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No.  U. 


i  iiu    1  A' S W I C H  S P A  R R t^ W 


{AMMObHAMi/S    t  Hi. \  ^,h PS  M A VN ARD) 


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ITS    SUMME.V    ».A^.vf.EL 


By  JONATHAN  DW^GMT,  JR..  M.  D. 


WITH  A  COLOItBD  nJiTV, 


*^w 


41 


fIDcinotrs  of  tbc  H'luttall  ©rnitbolooicnl  Club. 


No.  II, 


THE    IPSWICH   SPARROW 


{AMMODRAMUS    PRINCEPS    MAYNARD) 


AND 


ITS     SUMMER     HOME. 


By  JONATHAN  DWIGUT,  JR.,  M.  D. 


WITH  A   COLOKKD    I'LATE 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

PUBLISH  EI)    HY    THE    CLUB. 

AUGUST,  1895. 


THE  Il'SWICn  SPARROW  {AMMODRAMUS  PRIXCEPS)  AND 

ITS   SUMMER    HOME. 

BY  JONATHAN    inVIGIIT,    JR.,    M.  D. 

DiscovKRED  among  the  sand-hills  of  Ipswich,  Massachusetts,  by  Mr. 
C.  J.  Ma)'narcl,  and  the  single  s|iecimt'n  obtained  by  him  December  4, 
1868,  wrongly  identified  as  liaird's  Sparrow  of  the  far  West  by  no  less 
eminent  an  authority  than  Professor  S.  F.  IJaird,  the  Ipswich  Sparrow,  for 
a  long  time  after  it  was  recognized  as  a  new  species,  enjoyed  a  reputation 
for  rarity  which  later  observations  have  not  sustained.  Gradually  the  few 
energetic  collectors  who  have  cared  to  face  the  wintry  winds  that  sweep 
the  desolate  stretches  of  low  sand-liills  fringing  so  much  of  our  Atlantic 
coast,  have  proved  the  bird  to  be  a  regular  migrant  or  winter  visitor,  found 
more  or  less  abundantly  from  Maine  to  Georgia.  For  nearly  sixteen  years 
after  its  discovery  there  was  no  clue  to  its  breeding  haunts  uiuil,  in  1884,  a 
single  summer  specimen  was  obtained  from  Sable  Island,  Nova  Scotia. 
Until  ten  years  later  no  successful  effort  was  made  to  solve  the  mystery 
shrouding  the  summer  home  of  a  shy  and  silent  species  liiat  disappeared 
from  our  shores  with  the  earliest  breath  of  spring,  not  to  return  again  befoiC 
the  frosts  of  autumn  had  browned  the  waving  clumps  of  coarse  grass  where 
it  makes  its  winter  home.  It  was  in  the  hope  of  reading  rome  of  the 
unturned  pages  of  tlie  life-history  of  this  interesting  Sparrow  that  I  visited 
Sable  Island  during  the  summer  of  1894.  A  long  personal  ac(iuaintance 
with  the  bird,  added  to  my  recent  observations,  enables  me  to  present  a 
comprehensive  account  of  a  species  which,  a  New  England  discovery 
itsell",  annually  imitates  tlie  Pilgrim  Fatliers  in  landing  on  New  England's 
shores ;  and  I  am  confident  my  brotiier  ornitiiologists,  of  that  part  of  the 
country  at  least,  will  feel  a  particular  interest  in  the  new  facts  I  am  able 
to  present  regarding  a  species  so  peculiarly  their  own. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  most  interesting  results  of  my  trip  has  been  to 
establish  the  fact  that  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  is  resident  on  Sable  Island  the 
whole  year  round.  Moreover,  it  is  the  only  laiul  bird  that  makes  its  nest 
there,  being  known  as  the  '  Gray  Bird'  to  the  few  inhabitants.  As  no  other 
breeding  grounds  have  ever  been  found  (and  careful  search  has  been 
made  by  several  observers),  Sable  Island  may  truly  be  called  the  home  of 


4  MEMOIUS  OK  TIIK   NUITAIJ.  ORNITIIOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

the  Ipswich  Sparrow.  I-«yi"K  i>s  it  does  far  out  in  the  oclmh,  nearly  one 
hundred  miles  from  the  Nova  Scotia  coast,  a  landing;  upon  it  impracticable 
except  in  line  weather,  and  wiajipcd  in  impenetral)h'  fo^  fn-  weeks  at  a 
timi',  .stnail  wonder  is  it  liial  tliis  lonely  sand-bank  sliould  have  guarded  its 
secrets  for  so  many  years.  Now  al  last  it  has  yielded  tiiein  up,  and  the 
home  life  of  tin;  liiswieh  .Sparrow,  ils  unknown  song,  its  undiscovered  nesi 
and  eggs,  its  uiulescribed  lledgling  plumage,  are  no  longer  matters  of  con- 
jecture. It  is  my  pleasant  task  in  these  pages  to  lay  them  before  my 
readers,  witii  sonu;  other  new  facts  that  came  to  my  notice  while  I'xiled 
on  the  narrow  strip  of  sand  known  as  Sable  Island.  I  reached  there  on 
the  28th  of  May,  1894,  dejiarting  tlience  on  tlie  14th  of  June.  Nc  one  is 
allowed  to  land  without  a  permit  from  the  Dominion  Government,  but, 
thanks  to  kinil  and  interestinl  friends,  this  was  obtained  for  me  without 
the  delays  and  red  tape  that  are  apt  to  discourage  such  ellbrts.  From  the 
Government  ollicials  with  whom  I  came  in  contact  I  received  every  atten- 
tion, aiul  to  the  cordial  hospitality  ol  Mr.  Robert  J.  Doulilier,  espi'cially, 
ihe  supei  inlenilent  of  the  lili'-sa\ing  service  on  tlie  islaiul,  and  iiis  I'aniii}' 
I  owe  tiie  great  success  of  my  expeilition. 

The  only  coiumunication  the  island  has  with  the  mainland  is  by  the 
Goveriunent  steamer  which  at  long  and  irregular  iiUervals  carri.'s  supplies 
thither  for  tjie  se\enlei'n  men  (several  of  them  with  families)  wiio  now  look 
alter  the  two  ligiilhouses  and  four  lile-sa\ing  stations.  The  trip,  if  made 
from  Halifax,  usually  occupies  a  wiioK-  day,  but  tiie  boat  may  spend  days 
or  even  weeks  supplying  the  otiier  lighthouses  ol  the  Nova  Scotia  (or 
occasionall}'  the  Newl'onndlaiul )  coast  before  it  proceeds  to  Sable  Island. 
The  frecpient  fogs  and  the  impossibility  of  making  a  lauding  ludess  the  wind 
is  in  the  right  ipiarter,  are  other  sources  of  delav  and  danger  in  visiting  the 
place,  and  to  accomplish  it  an  unlimited  amount  of  time  and  patience  nuist 
be  at  oiu;'s  disposal.  The  voyages  to  and  from  the  island  actually  occupied 
me  six  days,  two  of  which  were  spent  at  anchor  in  the  fog.  As  I  went  of}' 
in  the  first  boat  that  had  visited  the  island  in  five  months  I  confess  to 
some  misgivings  wh"n  'hi'  steamer  left  me,  as  to  how  long  I  might  be  obliged 
to  play  Robinson  Cruso>'.  Like  that  gentleman  I  swept  up  the  beach  on  the 
crest  of  a  breaker,  but  i  hail  the  advantage  of  him  in  being  comfortably 
seated  in  a  surf  boat.  The  cordiality-  of  my  reception  ((uickly  dispt-lled 
all  doubts  as  to  my  surviving  for  an  indelinite  period,  and  when  I  left  the 
island  it  was  with  regret,  lor  everybody  seemed  to  t;.ke  an  interest  in  my 
researches,  and  no  sooner  was  a  nest  foimd  or  a  birtl  caught  than  the 
intelligence  came  to  me  over  the  telephone  wires  that  connect  the  dilVerent 
stations,  and  some  of  the  domesticated  wild  ponies  were  ready  in  the  barns 
to  transport  nu;  wherever  I  wished  to  go. 


THE   IPSWICIi    SI'AKUOW.  5 

When  evciytliiiig  is  taken  into  consideration,  I  am  convinced  that  the 
Fates  war':  unusually  propitious,  and  enabled  me  to  accomplish  within  a 
few  weeks  what  might  easily  have  taken  as  many  months.  No  steamer 
visited  the  island  lor  two  months  after  I  left  it,  and  this  impossibility  of 
escape  trom  a  place  that  has  absolutely  no  other  means  of  communication 
with  the  outer  world  (not  even  a  cable)  is  a  serious  bar  to  making  a 
journey  that  lands  the  rash  naturalist  on  a  veritable  terra  iiifoiiiiitti. 

In  order  that  we  may  better  understand  the  conditions  under  which  the 
birds  are  living  there  today,  it  will  be  interesting  for  us  to  glance  at  the 
history  of  this  isolated  spot,  already  the  thenu;  of  many  a  pen,  and  impor- 
tant for  us  to  dwell  at  some  length  upon  the  natural  history,  about  which 
little  has  been  written. 

IlisTOitv  oi-  Saiim;  Isi,am>. 

Whether  the  Dane,  Miorn  Ileriulfsen,  really  spied  the  island,  as  he  is 
said  to  have  done,  in  liie  }ear  986  a.  d.  or  not,  is  a  matter  not  susceptible 
of  proof,'  but  thai  it  was  known  to  liie  navigators  of  the  sLxteenth 
century  is  shown  by  its  appearance  on  t.-arly  charts.''  It  is  apparently 
indicated  as  '  samta  cruz  '  on  a  chart  ol  1505  by  Pedro  Reinel,  as  'si 
cruz'  on  one  of  1544  by  Sebastian  Cabot,  and  as  '  Isola  d'ella  Rena  ' 
(Sand}-  Island)  on  one  of  about  1550  by  the  Italian,  Gastaldi ;  while  it 
appears  on  various  maps  of  later  date  under  the  names  of  '  isle  de  sable,' 
'  I.  Sable,'  etc.,  all  ringing  changes  on  the  French  word  sable,  meaning 
'  sand,'  the  adjacent  mainland  being  in  those  times  under  French  rule,  and 
known  as  Acailie.  The  accuracy  of  some  of  the  statements  made  by  early 
writers  regarding  the  island,  is  questionable;  and  whether  the  Frencinnan, 
Baron  de  Lery,  visited  it  ami  left  behind  him  cattle  and  swine  in  the  year 
1518,  is  very  doubtful  ;  but  that  the  Portuguese  stocked  it  with  these  animals 
about  tiie  midille  of  the  sixteentii  century  seems  to  be  an  established  fact. 

In  15)^3  occurred  tlie  lirst  of  a  long  series  of  disasters  on  its  dangerous 
bars.  The  Admiral,  an  armed  vessel  in  the  service  of  Her  Majest}',  C^ieen 
Elizabetii,  was  wrecked  here,  and  nearly  one  lunulred  lives  were  lost.  The 
expedition,  under  command  of  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  half-brother  to  Sir 
Walter  Raleigh,  consisted  of  live  ships,  and  was  proceeding  from  New- 
loundland,  which  island  had  just  been  taken  possession  of  in  the  name 
of  the  Qiieen. 


'J.  M.  Oxluy,  'Historic  Aspects  of  Sal)le  fslaiul.'     Mag.  Amer.  Ifist.,  XV,  Feb.  1SS6,  163. 

•Facaimilus  of  many  of  tluni  may  liu  foiiinl  in  '  (artier  to   I'lontenat,'  by  Justin   WInsor,  iSy.i, 
pp.  6,  53,  etc. 


6  MKMOIRS  OK  TIIK   Nl'TTALL   ORNITUOLOOICAL  CUm. 

Ill  1598  forty  convicts  were  left  on  llie  island  l)y  the  Marquis  de  la 
Roilic,  who  iiUi'ndfd  to  trunsfor  tlieni  to  tlio  mainland  as  soon  as  lir  liad 
Hi'lectc'd  a  site  for  a  new  colony.  A  storm,  JioWL-ver,  presently  arose  that 
drove  him  eastward,  and  he  finally  returned  to  France  where  he  is  .«aid  to 
have  been  imprisoned.  The  convicts  were  not  rescued  for  five  or  six  years, 
when  all  save  a  dozen  liad  perished,  the  survivors  subsisting  on  cattle,  seals 
and  berries,  and  clotiiing  tiiemselves  with  skins  and  furs.  Dining  the  first 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  island  was  visited  by  English  and 
I'^rench  fishermen  and  hunters  in  pursuit  of  the  seals,  walruses  and  foxes  that 
llien  abouiidi'd,  and  by  others  who  hunted  tiie  cattle  for  their  iiides.  In 
1633  John  Rose  of  Boston,  wiio  was  wri'cked  upon  tiie  island,  reported 
having  seen  "  more  than  eight  hundred  head  of  wild  cattle  and  a  great 
many  foxes  many  of  wiiich  were  black."  After  lie  liad  ellected  his  escape 
in  a  boat  built  from  llie  wreckage  of  his  vessel,  he  returned  again  with 
sevi'Uteon  Acadians,  wiio  so  slauglUered  the  cattli.'  that  few  remained  when, 
some  years  later,  a  company  arrived  from  Moslon  iiaving  the  same  eiul  in 
view.  Apparently  tiie  cattle,  foxes,  and  walruses  were  exterminated  at 
about  tins  time,  for  we  find  little  or  no  reference  to  them  during  the  next 
hundred  years. 

About  1738  Rev.  Andrew  Le  Mercier,  also  of  Boston,  restocked  the 
island  with  some  domestic  animals,  expecting  to  settle  there  himself.  The 
wild  ponies  that  to  the  present  day  are  found  in  '  gangs '  all  over  the  island 
are  said  to  be  descendants  of  this  stock,  although  it  is  thought  by  some 
that  they  originally  came  from  the  wreck  of  a  Spanish  vessel.'  Since 
Le  Mercier's  lime  the  cattle  have  been  at  least  ser.ii-domcslicated,  for  the 
island  became  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eigiiteenth  century  a  place  of 
resort,  not  only  of  honest  fishermen,  but  of  pirates  and  wreckers,  attracted 
no  doubt  by  the  constantly  increasing  luiiniier  of  vessels  tiiat  were  cast 
away  upon  it.  Grues(jme  tales  are  told  of  the  robbery  and  murder  of  the 
unfortunate  people  who  escaped  the  sea  only  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  these 
miscreants,  and  blood-curdling  gliost-stories  have  grown  tnit  of  this  dark 
period  of  the  island's  history.  In  order  to  protect  life  and  property,  tiie 
Government  of  Nova  Scotia  in  the  autumn  of  1801  established  on  Sable 
Island  tiie  first  relief  or  humane  establisliment,  tluU  has  developed  into  tiie 
well-equipped  life-saving  service  there  today.  Since  1801  accurate  records 
of  the  havoc  wrought  b)^  storms  in  the  pliysical  aspect  of  the  island,  and  of 
the  many  wrecks  that  liave  occurred  on  its  outlying  bars,  have  been  kept 
by  the  various  superintendents.     Up  to  1882,  no  less  than  one  hundred  and 


'For  an  account  of  thum  see  J.   It.  Gilpin  'On  introiluccil  species  of  Novn  Scolia,' Trans.  N,   S. 
Inst.  Nat.  Sci.,  Vol.  I  (printed  II),  pt.  I,  1864,  pp.  Co-68. 


TIIIC   irsWICIl   Sl'ARROW  7 

fifty  known  wrecks  liail  occmruil,  and  by  Januaiy  i,  1895,  eijrhtcen  more 
liad  been  added,  two  of  tbein  occurrinj,'  during  tlie  summer  of  1894,  ""*•'■■ 
my  depurtiiie.  A  ♦  wreck-cliarl '  of  the  islanil  was  prepared  by  Mr.  S.  D. 
Macdonald  of  Halifax  in  1882,  and  publislied  i)y  tlie  Department  of  Marine 
of  the  Dominion  Government.'  It  lias  been  re"is,.d  up  to  1890,  but  there 
are  supposed  to  have  been  oilier  unknown  wrecks  far  out  on  the  bars,  of 
vvliich  there  is  no  evidence  save  perhaps  broken  spars  or  a  dead  body  (liiny 
by  the  breakers  high  on  the  sandy  beach.  Richly  does  Sable  Island 
deserve  the  title  '  An  Ocean  Graveyard,'  and  well  has  it  been  said,  "  No 
other  island  on  this  globe  can  show  so  appalling  a  record  of  siiipwreck  and 
disaster ! " 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  pages  in  the  history  of  the  island,  and  one 
that  certainly  bears  most  directly  upon  the  history  of  our  Sparrow,  is  that 
which  records  its  gradual  demolition  by  storms  and  ocean  currents.  It  is 
now  api)arenl]y  a  ijuestion  of  years,  not  centuries,  before  tlie  island  bectinies 
a  submerged  bar  like  those  witii  whicii  it  is  surrounded  01  those  which  extend 
out  for  miles  from  either  end.  There  have  been  periods  wlien  it  has 
melted  away  with  startling  rapidity,  and  then  again  others  during  which 
little  or  no  change  has  taken  place.  The  western  extremity  has  sullered 
most,  while  the  eastern  has  been  little  aflected  save  perhaps  by  the  fury 
of  the  gale  that,  drifting  the  sand  before  it,  builds  up  or  pulls  down  the 
miniature  mountains  with  surprising  rapidity.  It  has  been  thought  that 
the  whole  island  has  been  moving  eastward  grain  by  grain,  but  siu:h  a 
statement  has  not  been  fully  substantiated.  It  is  the  western  end  and 
southern  shore  that  have  been  steailily  washing  away,  and  the  process  goes 
on  more  rapidly,  the  smaller  the  island  becomes,  while  tiiere  is  little  or  no 
compensatory  building  up  of  the  eastern  end. 

Its  size  prior  to  1775  must  ••emain  a  matter  of  conjecture.  In  that  j'ear, 
however,  charts  compiled  from  Freucii  sources  show  it  to  have  been  no  less 
than  forty  miles  in  length  and  two  and  one  quarter  in  breadth.  In  1799  an 
Admiralty  survey,  carefully  made,  gave  the  island  a  length  of  thirty-one 
miles  and  a  breadth  of  two.  In  1808  a  special  survey  of  tlie  island  made 
it  thirty  miles  in  length  and  two  in  breadth,  with  hills  from  one  hundred 
and  fifty  to  two  hundred  feet  in  heigiit,  reaching  their  maximum  elevation 
near  the  eastern  end.  In  1815  another  chart  shows  the  length  to  be  only 
twenty-nine  miles,  and  yet  we  learn  that  within  the  four  years  prior  to  1814 
no  less  than  four  miles  of  the  western  end  had  crumbled  into  the  sea,  as 
proved  by  the  situation  of  the  main  sta'.ion  erected  in  1801.     It  was  then 

'  A  facsin-ile  of  this  map,  together  with  an  account  o  '  the  island,  may  be  found :  J.  M.  Hxley,  '  An 
Ocean  Gravcyu.d,'  Scribner's  Magazine,  I,  May,  188;,  pp.  603-610. 


8  MKMOIUS   Ol'  Tllf':    NiriTAI.I,   ORNITIIOI.fKJICAL   CLUB. 

five  miles  from  tlie  western  end.  Its  lemoval  was  necessitated  in  1814, 
in  i8jo,  and  in  1833.  tiie  sea  advancinjf  meantime  eleven  miles.  A  survey 
in  1829  gave  a  leiif^tl-.  of  only  twenty-two  miles,  wliile  an(jliier  in  1851 
increased  this  to  twenty-three,  since  which  time  no  survey  has  been  made. 
Two  wooden  li<fl>thouses,  one  at  either  end,  were  erected  in  1873,  the 
distance  between  them  in  a  direct  line  being  twent}'-one  miles,  with 
probably  a  mile  or  so  of  grass-covered  hills  beyond  them  at  cither 
extremity.  In  1882  the  sea  u'ldermined  the  western  lighthouse,  and  it 
was  hastily  taken  down  and  moved  1218  feet  further  eastward.  In  1888 
a  second  removal  became  necessary,  and  tliis  time  it  was  transported 
nearly  two  miles  eastward  (9100  feet  SE.  by  E.,  i  E.)  to  the  site  it 
now  occupies.  Meanwhile  the  sea  has  advanced  to  within  about  half  a 
mile,  and  in  a  very  few  years  will  again  threaten  its  destruction. 

These  figures  are  tlerivcd  iirincijially  from  one  of  Mr.  Macdonald's 
interesting  papers  on  Sable  Island.'  It  will  be  observed  that  they  are 
somewhat  confiicting,  but  whether  this  is  due  to  inaccuracies  in  the  surveys, 
to  the  difiiculty  of  determining  exactly  where  the  ends  of  the  island  are, 
or  to  an  actual  movement  eastward  of  the  sand,  the  fact  remains  that 
the  island  is  far  smaller  than  it  was  a  century  ago. 

Regarding  tlie  history  of  the  lagoon  or  lake  which  has  always  occupied 
a  large  portion  of  the  island,  I  cannot  do  better  than  ipiote  a  few  lines 
from  liie  Rev.  George  Patterson's  excellent  and  exhaustive  paper,"  where 
he  s  .ys  : — 

The  cli;iii;4cs  going  on  in  llio  pliysical  striictnre  of  the  isl.ind  appear  further  from 
what  has  taken  place  in  tlic  lake.  Some  time  hufore  the  first  government  estahlish- 
incnt  was  placed  on  ilic  island  there  was  an  opening  into  it  from  the  north.  The 
supcriiUcndenl,  writing  in  1808,  says  thai  'it  is  coniple'.'^ly  sliut,  and  it  is  dilticiilt  to 
trace  where  it  has  been.'  The  superintendent  in  1826  mentions  the  same  fact,  but 
urges  the  reopening  of  it,  wiiich  he  thinks  might  be  acromplished  at  moderate  expense, 
in  which  case  it  would  serve  as  a  harbor  of  refuge  for  ves.sels  of  fifty  tons.  Some 
years  .after  a  terrific  storm  caused  a  similar  opening  from  tlie  south,  through  which 
small  vessels  entered  for  shelter,  hut  in  the  year  1836  a  similar  storm  filled  it  up 
again,  inclosing  two  American  vessels  wiiich  had  taken  refuge  widiin. 

For  some  time  after  the  formation  of  the  government  estahlishinent  on  the  island, 
this  lake  was  fifteen  miles  long,  and,  though  gradually  becoming  shoal  from  the 
material  drifting  into  it,  it  afforded  a  very  convenient  means  of  transport  by  boat. 
The  residents  largely  used  it  in  conveying  supplies  to  the  east  end,  in  bringing  wood 

'Trans.  N.  .S.  Inst.  Nat.  ,Sci.,  Vol.  Vt,  pt.  iv,  iS86,  pp.  110-119. 

'  Rev.  ("icorge  I'atterson,  '  Sable  Island,  its  history  and  phenoinena,'  Trans.  Royal  Soc.  Canada 
Sec.  II,  1894,  pp.  1-49. 


THE   IPSWICH    SPARROW.  9 

from  the  same  quarter,  and  wrecked  materials  to  the  main  station.  Rut  during  tiie 
winter  of  i33i  a  severe  gale  opened  a  guleh  near  the  east  end,  which  has  so  drained 
it  that  it  is  now  only  eight  miles  long,  and  so  shallow  as  to  be  useless  (or  transport. 
The  destructive  agency  of  the  sea  appears  farther  in  the  ridge  which  separates 
the  lake  from  the  sea  on  the  sonth.  Originally  it  was  half  a  mile  wide,  with  hills 
upwards  of  fifty  feet  in  height,  now  it  is  a  narrow  beach,  in  some  places  not  more 
than  a  hundred  yards  wide  and  so  reduced  in  height  that  the  sea  breaks  over  it  in 
stormy  weather.  Should  this  barrier  be  removed,  the  work  of  demolition  will  go  on 
more  rapidly  than  ever.     (Pp.  43-44-) 

The  fragments  of  history  here  presented  have  been  gathered  from  many 
sources,  and  selected  with  a  view  to  showing  the  vicissitudes  through  which 
all  animal  life  on  the  island  must  have  passed.  It  now  remains  for  me  to 
describe  the  island  as  I  found  it  in  1894. 


Physical  Aspect  of  Sable  Island. 

« 
The  geologists  tell  us  Sable  Island  is  either  the  remains  of  a  sand 
continent  of  remote  glacial  origin  or,  more  probably,  a  vast  heap  of  glacial 
detritus  brought  from  the  north  by  the  ice-floes  of  a  more  modern  periou 
and  heaped  up  by  existing  ocean  currents.'  At  all  events,  it  now  forms 
the  ribbon-like  crest  of  a  submerged  bank  two  hundred  miles  long  by  ninety 
in  breadth,  similar  to  those  extending  from  Newfoundland  to  the  shoals  of 
Nantucket.  A  scant  twenty  miles  of  rolling  sand-hills  is  all  that  remains 
today  above  the  .surface  of  the  ocean,  some  of  the  sand  mountains  attaining 
an  elevation  of  eighty  feet  and  resembling  in  almost  every  particular  save 
greater  size  the  stretches  of  sand  dunes  to  be  found  along  our  Atlantic  sea- 
board,—  the  same  treeless  aspect,  the  s;ime  sparse  covering  of  coarse 
beach-grass,  the  same  deserts  of  shifting  white  sand.  But  on  Sable  Island 
in  the  hollows  among  the  hills  and  often  to  their  very  summits,  grasses 
grow  luxuriantly  in  many  places,  and  a  large  part  is  carpeted  with  the 
evergreen  Crowberry  {Einfclruin  nigrum  L.)  and  Juniper  {Jiini ferns 
nana  Willd.)  which  are  very  characteristic  productions.  Between  the 
two  lighthouses  it  stretches  in  the  form  of  a  slender  crescent,  the 
concavity  towards  the  Nova  Scotia  coast  distant  at  its  nearest  point 
eighty-six   geographical   miles.      The    horns    of  the   crescent    extend    at 


'.S.  U.  Macilonald,  'Sa))le  Island,  no.  3,  its  probable  origin  and  submergence,'  Trans.  N.  S.   Inst. 
Nat.  Sci.,  VI,  pt.  iv,  188O,  265-280. 

I 

2 


lO  Mli.MOIRS   Ol'   Tin:    NUTTAl.L   OKMTIIOLOGICAL   CLUI5. 

either  end  in  several  parallel  submerged  bars  a  distance  of  liftecn  miles  or 
more,  where  vessels  have  been  lost  a  dozen  miles  from  the  nearest  land. 
About  a  mile  of  grassy  sand-hills  now  intervenes  between  each  light  and 
the  northeast  and  northwest  bars  respectively.  The  former  dries  for 
several  miles  at  low  tide  in  fine  weather,  but  the  latter  only  shows  little 
patches  of  damp  sand,  the  remains  of  what  was  once  part  of  the  island; 
and  if  you  stand  at  the  western  extremity,  the  sand  is  actually  eaten 
away  from  beneath  your  very  feet  by  a  swift  current  from  the  southeast. 
As  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  an  imposing  white  line  of  breaking  surf 
extends  out  on  both  the  bars. 

The  greatest  width  of  the  island  hardly  anywhere  exceeds  a  mile,  and 
a  lagoon  called  Lake  Wallace,  or  simply  '  the  lake,'  stretching  along  more 
than  one  half  of  its  length,  diminishes  the  land  area  of  the  western  portion 
fully  one  half.  The  lake,  at  most  a  few  Innidred  yards  in  width  and  very 
shallow,  is  separated  from  the  ocean  southward  by  a  bare  sand-bar  over 
which  the  sea  breaks  in  time  of  storm  and  through  which  it  has  forced  two 
narrow  inlets.  As  we  have  seen,  not  many  years  ago  this  '  south  beach,' 
as  it  is  called,  was  a  substantial  barrier  of  grassy  sand-hillocks.  Between 
tlie  lake  and  the  ocean  northward  intervenes  a  backbone  of  hillocks  that 
increase  in  size  eastward,  until  they  culminate  in  a  huge  continuous 
bank.  This  maintains,  almost  without  a  break  for  six  or  eight  miles,  an 
elevation  of  sixty  to  eighty  fe"t.  Viewed  in  the  fog  it  .oums  up  like 
an  important  range  of  mountains,  descending  abruptly  on  the  ocean  side, 
and  sloping  more  gradually  into  the  central  valleys  of  the  island,  which 
are  blocked  at  every  turn  with  lesser  hills  and  diversified  with  numerous 
fresh-water  ponds.  A  less  impressive  southern  range  of  hills  extends 
along  the  shore  eastward  from  the  foot  of  the  lake.  The  wind  has  carved 
them  into  numberless  peaks,  and  here  as  well  as  in  many  other  places  its 
resistless  force  is  shown. 

Once  let  a  '  raw  '  spot  (as  it  is  aptl}'  called)  be  found, — a  break  perhaps  by 
hoofs  of  cattle  in  the  grassy  hillside,  —  and  soon  a  hollow  is  whirled  out  that 
succeeding  storms  convert  into  a  great  gully  or  channel  through  the  hills, 
over  the  steep  sides  of  which  hangs  a  feathery  curtain  of  tangled  roots  and 
grass,  vainly  endeavoring  to  shield  the  edges  from  further  injury.  From 
one  end  to  tlie  other  the  island  is  a  series  of  startling  contrasts,  verdure  and 
sand  desert  going  hand  in  hand.  A  single  winter's  storm  may  conij  etely 
change  the  face  of  the  landscape,  spiriting  away  hillocks  in  this  place, 
building  up  others  in  that,  and  spreading  a  thick  blanket  of  sand  over  what 
was  perhaps  the  fairest  spot  of  all.  This  burying  process  produces  the  thin 
layers  of  vegetable  mould  that  alternaie  in  many  places  with  the  sand  of 
which  the  soil  is  almost  wholly  composed.     The  sand  consists  chiefly  of  fine 


THE   ll'SWIClI   Sl'ARROW.  II 

rounded  grains  of  white  or  transparent  quartz,  and  no  stones  are  found.' 
Tiic  beacli  is  strewn  with  shells  of  m..ny  species,  and  its  monotonous 
stretches  are  relieved  by  the  ribs  and  other  fragments  of  unfortunate 
vessels.  Inland,  the  continuous  areas  of  vegetation  arc  much  more  exten- 
sive over  the  eastern  half  of  the  island  tlian  elsewhere;  and  evergreen 
shrubs  almo.st  entirely  replace  the  turf-covered  areas  of  its  western  part. 


Climatic. 

The  climate  of  Sable  Island  is  colder  in  summer  and  warmer  in 
winter  than  its  situation  (East  End  Light,  Lat.  43°  58'  10"  N.,  Long.  59°  46 
20"  VV.  ;  West  End  Light,  Lat.  43"  56'  40"  N.,  Long.  60°  6'  W.)'  would 
indicate.  It  lies  in  the  cold  Labrador  current  sweeping  down  from  Baflin's 
Bay.  Hence  the  cool  summers ;  for  Mr.  Boutilier  tells  me  there  are  only 
about  twenty  days  in  each  year  when  the  mercury  goes  above  70"  F.  and 
the  highest  recorded  temperature  in  the  last  ten  years  has  been  78.5°  F. 
Proximity  to  the  Gulf  Stream  tempers  the  winters,  and  only  twice  in  the 
same  period  has  the  temperature  been  as  low  as  6°  F.,  rarely  reaching  the 
single  figure.  Snow  does  not  lie  long,  out  wastes  rapidly  in  the  salt  air. 
This  same  proximity  to  the  Gulf  Stream  explains,  too,  the  dense  and  fre- 
quent fogs  that  prevail  .it  all  seasons  of  the  year.  The  warm,  moisture- 
laden  air  of  the  Gulf  Stream  is  carried  by  southerly  breezes  till  it  meets 
the  cold  atmosphere  of  the  Labrador  current,  when  a  condensation  of  the 
aqueous  vapor  takes  place,  resulting  in  the  fogs  that  often  roll  in,  particu- 
larly in  summer,  as  far  as  the  Nova  Scotia  coast.  I  was  informed  that 
June  and  July  were  the  months  most  to  be  dreaded,  and  that  only  a  few 
years  ago  fog  had  prevailed  at  this  time  for  nine  consecutive  weeks.  I 
was  more  favored,  and  although  there  was  fog  of  varying  density  almost 
every  day  of  my  stay,  and  occasional  rain,  the  sun  would  sometimes 
struggle  through  for  a  few  moments.  Once  or  twice  it  shone  brightly  in 
the  crisp  ai.,  a  stiff  westerly  breeze  driving  the  fog-banks  out  to  sea,  and 
dashing  little  waves  upon  the  lagoon's  shores  until  they  were  lined  with 
snowy  drifts  of  foam.  It  was  a  pretty  sight,  and  large  balls  of  the  foam, 
diminishing  in  size  as  they  sped,  were  chased  along  by  the  wind, 
leaving  behind  them   queer  white  trails  on  the  moist  beach. 


'  Cf.  .S.  D.  M.ic(Ional<l,  'Geological  Notes,"  Trans.  N.  S.  Inst.  Nat.  Sci.,  Vol.  V,  pi.  iv,  i88i,  pp. 
337-339- 

'From  'List  of  Lights  and  T  njT- Sign  .lis  on  the  coasts  rivers  and  Lakes  of  the  Dominion  of 
Canada.    Corrected  to  ist  January,  1894.' 


12  MF.MOIKS  OK   TIIK    NUTTAIX  ORNITIKM.OGICAI.   CLUa 

Tlie  extremes  of  temperature  encountered  by  me  were  6o»  F.  on  June  9 
.„d  40"  F.  on  June  13,  and  I  can  assn-e  my  readers  that  w.lh  a 
temperature  .eldom  over  50"  F.,  winter  clothing  and  an  overcoat  d.d  not 

'"' ThTviolence  of  the  wind  and  the  fury  of  winter  storms  can  only  be 
estimated  by  U.e  changed  aspect  of  hill  and  valley  after  a  long-contmued 
'ale.  I  encountered  one  when  the  wind  attained  a  ve  oc.ty  of  over  fdty 
n.iles  an  hour,  and  I  can  now  realize  wl>at  it  must  have  been  on  one 
occasion  when  for  twenty-four  hours  the  anemometer  registered  a  rate  of 
o    k'ss  than  sixty-tbur  miles  an   hour,   with  bursts  that   reached   e.ghty- 


seven. 


Floija. 


U  was  impossible  to  study  satisfactorily  the  llora  of  Sable  Island,  for 
.1  tl>e  time  of  my  visit  few  of  the  plants  had  mure  than  just  oi-ned  the.r 
earliest  buds,  and  of  the  species  collected,  many  could  not  be  pos.   vely 
ck  t  aid      e  ,  by  so  able  a  botanist  as  Dr.  N.  L.  Britton  of  Columb.a  College, 
who  was  kind  enough  to  make  the  attempt  for  me  and  to  fu,  n.sh  he  seen Ufic 
names.     The  most  abundant   production  is  the  Beach-grass    {An.notMa 
arcnaria    (L.))  which  grows,  just  as  it  does  on  our  sandy  coasl^ni  tufts 
r;  Caches  all  over  the  island,  from  the  edges  of  the  low  blufls  under- 
mined by   the  sea  to  the  most  inland    ponds   in   the   v.c.n.ty   of  which   . 
..in.^les  with   other  grasses,  sedges  and  rushes.     Some  of  these  could  be 
idenaned,  as  Juncm  ballkns  Utloralh   Engelm.  and  Juncouics  campcslrc 
( L) ,  but  there  are  also  some  unrecognizable  species  of  Carcx  and  /  ammm. 
Timothy  (Phhumtratcnsc  L.)  and  Red-top  Grass  {AgrosUs  alhu  vulgaris 
With.),    as    well  as  Red   Clover    (Tri/olium    fralcnsc    L.),    have   been 
cultivated  near  the  stations,  and  While  Clover  (  T.  rcpcnsl..)  .s  frequently 
met  witl,,  but  man's  inducnce  has  been  at  work  on  the  island  for  so  many 
centuries  that  it  is  almost  impossible  .0  draw  the  line  between  indigenous 
species,  if  such  there  be,   and  those  artificially  introduced.     Next  to  the 
Beach-rass,  the  heather-like,  alpine  Cowberry  {Emtctrum  vigrnml..), 
with  its"  black  little  berries,  vies  with  the  sturdier  Juniper  (/««./.r«5  «««« 
Willd.)  in  abundance.     The  thick,  yielding  carpet  that  these  two  prostrate 
evergreen  shrubs  spread  over  a  large  portion  of  the  island  does  much  to 
preserve   it  from  the  tierce  attacks  of  tlu    wind,  and  to   soften   the  bleak 
and  desolate  aspect  it  might  otherwise  present.     To  walk  or  ride  over  this 
bed  of  matted  boughs  gives  one  the  sensation  of  being  upon  heavy  tapestry 
laid  upon  a  rough  and  hummocky  surface.     The  lulls  and  valleys  at  the 


TIIR   IPSWICH   SPARROW.  I3 

eastern  end  of  tlie  island  are  so  covered  that  wher  softened  by  a  veil  of  fog 

tlie  eflect  is  nol  unlike  thnt  of  the  rolling  prairie  lands  of  tlie  West.  The 
Crowbeny  is  the  more  abundant  and  the  more  generally  distributed  of 
the  two  species.  Rose  bushes,  apparently  liosa  nitiua  Willd.,  and 
bluebeiry  bushes,  apparently  Vacciiiium  fcnnsylvtiiticn:n  Lam.,  abound, 
especially  in  the  vicinity  of  the  little  ponds,  where  all  vegetation  is  more 
luxuriant  and  where  late  in  the  season  great  beds  of  roses  are  to  be 
seen.  ^^arge  numbers  of  Cranberries  {Schollcra  macrocarpa  (Ait.)) 
grow  wild,  and  the  yearly  crop  that  is  gathered  amounts  sometimes  to 
several  hundred  bairelfuls.  From  the  trailing  vines  in  the  damp  hollows 
among  the  hills  the  large  and  juicy  berries  of  last  year  were  still  to  be 
gathered  at  the  time  of  my  visit.  The  bh:ebcrry  bushes  were  blossom- 
ing tlie  second  week  in  June,  many  of  the  tiny  sprigs  trailing  in  the  sand, 
partly  covered  by  it,  and  the  leaf  buds  of  the  rose  bushes  were  little  more 
than  half  unfolded.  Strawberries  {Fnii^uriu  canadensis  Michx.)  grow 
in  profusion,  and  the  plants  were  in  lull  blossom  during  my  stay.  The 
Partridgeberry  {Milchclla  rcpcns  L.),  the  Bunchberry  (Corntts  cana- 
densis L.)  and  the  Bayberry  {Myrica  cerijcra  L.)  are  also  found. 

No  trees  grow  on  Sable  Island,  and  eflbrts  to  introduce  them  have 
proved  lutlle.  To  be  sure  a  stunted  willow  bush  stands  in  the  superin- 
tendent's dooryard,  protected  by  a  board  fence,  but  each  winter  the  icy 
winds  nip  the  few  shoots  that  dare  to  push  above  this  shelter.  All  the 
bushes  of  every  kind  are  much  dwarfed,  few  of  them  reaching  half  way  to 
the  knee,  but  forming  very  dense  clumps  in  sheltered  situnlioiis.  Frequently 
the  clumps  catch  the  drifting  sand ;  grass,  weeds,  and  moss  soon  find  a  foot- 
hold, and  some  day  a  turfy  hummock  is  the  result.  This  perhaps  gradually 
extends  its  limits  and  joins  its  neighbor,  and  in  the  course  of  time  the  charac- 
teristic hummocky  ground  of  certain  parts  of  the  island  is  formed.  At  the 
time  of  my  arrival  all  looked  bare  and  brown.  Before  my  departure  nearly 
the  whole  surface  had  acquired  a  visibly  greener  tinge  with  here  and  there  the 
ruddy  glow  of  blossoming  Sorrel  {Runicx  accloscUa  L.),  while  such  weeds 
as  the  Beach  Pea  {Lalhyrus  maritimns  (L.)),  Everlasting  {Gnaphalium 
sp.  ?),  and  Meadow-rue  (Thalictrum  sp.?)  were  becoming  conspicuous. 
Blue  \\o\{i\.^  {Viola  ohliqua  Hill)  and  white  ones  (V.  lanceolata  L.)  were 
abundant,  and  many  inconspicuous  plants  were  pushing  above  the  ground 
and  unfolding  their  early  buds  or  blossoms,  the  majority  of  them  too  young 
for  accurate  determination.  This  is  to  be  regretted,  for  my  specimens 
show  that  not  less  than  forty  species  occur.  Several  mosses  and  lichens 
are  found,  among  them  a  Sphagunm.  Eel-grass  {Zosicra  marina  L.) 
abounds  in  the  lagoon,  and  occurs  as  drift  along  its  shores,  associated 
with   green   fdniy  sheets  of  Sea    Lettuce   {Ulva  sp.?)  that  .soon  become 


14 


MKMUIUS   OK  Tllli:    NUTTALl.  OUNITIIOLOGICAL   CLUH. 


drit.'i  and  bleached.  Rockwced  {AscofhyUnm  nodosum  (I..))-  torn 
from  its  ancliora^'e  on  some  distant  shore,  is  daily  cast  on  the  beach, 
but  like  some  of  thj  shells  found  there,  of  West  Indian  species,  its  appear- 
ance is  quite  accidental.  There  is  one  more  plant  tliat  is  wordiy  of 
mention,  the  Sandwort,  as  represented  hy  Arcnaria  fcfloidcs  L.  and  A 
g-nrn/ami/ca  (Ret/,).  It  covers  the  dry  bars,  and  among  its  shiny  leaves, 
only  a  few  inches  high  when  I  left,  the  Terns  are  fond  of  placing  their  nests. 
As  for  the  "golden-rod,  asters,  and  blue  lilies"  that  are  said  to  bloom 
later  in  the  season,  I  failed  to  obtain  any  specimens.  Some  of  the  graoses 
are  cut  for  hay,  but  it  did  not  look  as  if  the  crop  could  be  a  very  heavy  one. 
Potiitoes  and  a  few  other  vegetables  are  raised,  but  successful  farming  in  such 
sandy  soil  is  out  of  the  question,  even  if  the  simimers  were  not  so  cold.  I 
make  no  pretence  to  a  complete  enumeration  of  the  plants  of  Sable  Island, 
for  reasons  given,  but  those  that  I  have  mentioned  arc  among  the  most 
conspicuous  and  characteristic  of  its  flora,  which  resembles  in  many  respects 
that  of  lh<'  adjacent  mainland. 


Mammals. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  the  present  paper  to  enter  into  a  discussion  of 
the  whole  fauna'  of  the  island,  and  I  therefore  pass  at  once  to  some  of  the 
higher  groups.  Of  the  mammals  there  is  little  to  be  said,  for  the  once 
abundant  Walrus  {Odobicniis  rosmarns  (Linn.))  has  long  since  been 
exterminated,  and,  with  the  exception  of  a  couple  of  species  of  Seals,  there 
are  no  mammals  of  any  sort  found  there  today,  save  those  artificially 
introduced  by  man.  Great  numbers  of  the  Harbor  Seal  {Phoca  vitti- 
lina  L.)  are  resident.  They  were  in  large  herds  or  smaller  groups, 
basking  along  the  beach  or  disporting  m  the  lake.  At  the  time  of  my 
visit  many  of  tlie  new-born  young  were  seen,  and  could  be  easily  cap- 
tured. Sometimes  tliey  were  found  straying  inland,  where  they  perished 
from  hunger  or  from  the  dogs  that  delighted  to  worry  them.  When  a 
herd  was  approached  the  old  Seals  would  flounder  do  vn  the  beach 
into  the  water,  leaving  behind  them  a  few  of  the  mottled  young  either 
sound  asleep  or  making  no  eflbrt  to  escape.  No  great  fear  was  shown 
by  the  adults,  but  they  all  evinced  great  curiosity,  and  they  would  follow 
me   for  considerable  distances,  swimming  along  with  wide-opened  eyes, 


'  l)t.  (■ilpiii's  pamphlet  (1S58)  is  tlic  only  treatise  ever  puMislieil  that  h.xs  attempted  a  sketch  of  the 
fauna  ami  lloiaof  S.il)lu  IsKinil.    To  it  is  appended  a  list  of  thirty  eight  species  of  moUuscaby  J.  Willis. 


TIIIC    ll'SWICII    Sl'AKKOW. 


15 


their  shiny  blaclc  liuiuls  ranging  into  a  semi-circle  just  beyond  the  breakers 
if  I  paused  to  watch  them. 

Occasionally  I  sa^v  small  groups  of  the  larger  Harp  Seal  {P/ioca  gnvn- 
landica  Fabr.),  the  young  of  which  are  born  on  the  bars  in  the  month  of 
January.  I  was  shown  ilie  pure  white  skins  of  the  young.  They  are  found 
only  in  small  numbers. 

When  we  consider  the  probable  origin  of  Sable  Island,  an  up-building 
of  grains  of  sand  from  the  depths  of  the  ocean,  and  the  changes  through 
which  it  has  passed,  the  absence  of  mammals  upon  it  is  not  surprising.  The 
history  of  the  absolute  extermination,  often  directly  or  in^'irectly  by  the  hand 
of  man,  at  one  period  or  another,  of  2very  introduced  species  including  the 
domestic  animals,  is  a  striking  fact.  The  life  tenure  of  each  has  also 
depended  on  a  limited  food  supply  and  the  severity  of  the  winters.  Even 
the  wild  ponies,  of  which  there  are  several  hundred,  succumb  when  their 
pastures  are  buried  by  sand-drift.  Only  last  winter  (1893-94)  scores 
died  rather  than  venture  from  under  the  protecting  banks  and  face  a 
long-continued  storm.  Sheep  do  not  survive  the  winters.  The  extermina- 
tion of  the  wild  cattle  and  foxes  that  occupied  the  island  in  the  seventeenth 
century  has  ah'eady  been  mentioned  elsewhere.  The  wild  swine  were 
destroyed  in  1814,  because  of  their  ghoulish  propensities  in  times  of  wreck. 
Even  the  inhabitants  themselves  have  occasionally  been  reduced  to  the 
extremity  of  eating  horse  flesh.  There  h'lve  been  plagues  of  rats  in  con- 
sequence of  the  frequent  wrecks.  The  stores  of  the  first  superintendent 
were  so  extensively  demolished  by  these  pests,  that  for  a  time  he  and  his 
men  were  actually  threatened  with  starvation.  Rabbits,  ordinary  pet 
rabbits,  were  first  introduced  over  tit'ty  years  ago,  and  apparently  survived 
many  years.  It  is  said  that  about  1827  a  Snowy  Owl  took  up  his  allude  on 
the  island,  feasting  upon  tiiem  and  remaining  throughout  the  summer. 
Towards  1880  some  cats  were  turned  loose,  which  fell  upon  the  rabbits  and 
rats  and  rapidly  exterminated  them.  Shortly  afterwards  they  themselves 
succumbed  to  winter  hardships.  In  1882  rabbits  were  again  introduced, 
and  became  so  abundant  and  such  a  nuisance  that  cats  were  again  imported 
from  Halifax  to  destroy  them,  seven  in  the  summer  of  1889  and  thirty  more 
in  1890.  While  tiie  cats  that  survived  the  winter  were  still  feasting  upon 
the  remnant  of  the  rabbits,  seven  red  foxes  from  the  mainland  were  intro- 
duced in  June,  1891,  and  in  a  single  season  they  made  an  end  of  all  the 
rabbits  and  the  cats.  The  foxes  have  greatly  multiplied,  and  are  now 
exterminating  the  birds,  sucking  the  eggs  of  the  wild  Ducks,  and  devouring 
the  Terns  which  they  catch  at  night  on  their  nests.  That  the  Ipswich 
Sparrow  has  been  on  the  bill  of  fare  of  all  these  rats  and  cats  and  foxes 
(and  prior  to  1814,  very  likely,  the  wild  swine)  we  can  hardly  doubt, — 
will  it  be  spared  their  fate? 


X6  MEMOiR.S  OK  THE   NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUU. 

niRDS. 

The  total  niimlicr  of  species  of  l)ircls  breediiiy  on  Sable  Island  is  ten, 
and  ill  relative  order  of  alniiuianre  they  stand  about  as  follows  :  S/t'riitt 
f>iir(i</istpa,  Sterna  hit  undo,  ^u.alitis  scinipalmata,  Amnwdnnniis  frin- 
ccps,  TrtHi^a  niiuutilhi,  yE^ialilis  mclodu  circnmchicla.  Sterna  doiigalli, 
Mcrj^anser  serrator,  Anas  ohscura,  and  Aclitis  macuhiria. 

Tlie  sandy  cliaracte.  of  the  island,  with  its  lajfoon  and  its  bars,  makes  it 
a  paradise  for  Terns,  which  are  by  far  tlie  most  abundant  and  most  con- 
spicuous of  its  feathered  inhabitants.  Tliese  snowy  and  graceful  birds 
hover  thick  as  snowflakes  over  the  level  stretches  of  dry  sand-bar 
where  great  colonies  lay  their  eggs  regardless  of  storms  and  tides  that 
sometimes  urge  the  heavy  surf  far  beyond  its  usual  bounds  and  sweep 
away  eggs  and  young  by  the  thousand.  The  eggs  are  excellent  eating, 
and  *  t-'gg-picking,'  as  it  is  called,  is  systematically  carried  on  by  the  life- 
saving  crews  for  several  weeks  after  the  birds  begin  to  lay.  Finally  ever}'- 
body  wearies  of  egg  diet  and  the  Terns  are  left  to  rear  their  young  without 
further  molestation  from  man.  The  'egg-pickers'  pass  over  the  same 
ground  nearly  every  day  and  spare  such  previously  overlooked  nests  as 
chance  to  contain  three  eggs  or  more.  I  was  told  that,  as  the  season 
advanced,  the  eggs  became  so  much  more  plentiful  that  a  smaller  and 
smaller  territory  needed  to  be  covered  each  time  before  the  pails  and 
baskets  were  fdled  to  overflowing.  Since  foxes  have  been  introduced  the 
Terns  have  had  a  new  and  dangerous  enemy,  as  attested  by  the  numerous 
wings  and  feathers  that  lie  about  the  fo.x  burrows.  It  is  to  be  hoped  every 
eflorl  will  be  made  by  the  proper  authorities  to  protect  these  birds  from 
their  worst  enem}',  man  —  or,  to  be  more  exact,  in  this  case,  woman, — 
for  elsewhere  along  our  Atlantic  coast  they  have  been  wellnigh  exter- 
minated in  order  to  furnish  tlie  strange  lieadgear  that  Fashion  thought- 
lessly  imposes. 

Probably  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  birds  I  saw  were  Arctic  Terns,  and 
a  large  portion  of  the  other  third  Common  Terns,  with  a  goodly  sprinkling 
of  Roseates,  the  latter  a  species  hardl}'  to  be  expected  so  far  northward  and 
associated  with  such  boreal  species  as  the  Least  Sandpiper  and  Semipalmated 
Plover.  A  few  individuals  of  the  Arctic  Terns  were  in  the  peculiarly 
striking  plumage  in  which  they  were  once  described  as  the  Portland  Tern. 
Dissection  showed  that  such  birds  were  immature  and  not  breeding.  Rare 
indeed  was  the  moment  when  a  Tern  was  not  somewhere  in  sijrht,  and  the 
incessant  din  of  their  cries  was  never  out  of  my  ears.  Even  during  the 
midnight  hours,  when  all  was  still  and  the  distant  undertone  of  the  dashing 
sea  seemed   hushed,  the  sudden  cry  of  a  restless  bird  passing  overhead 


THE    IPSWICH    SPARROW.  T7 

would  be  heard.  The  uproar  occasioned  by  tlie  invasion  of  their  colonies 
was  augmented  by  every  bird  within  call  of  its  fellow.  Althougli  tlie  dif- 
ferent species  usually  selected  different  parts  of  the  beach  for  nesting 
grounds,  the  multitude  of  birds  in  the  air  .seeded  to  preclude  the  proper 
identification  of  the  eggs.  But  on  Sable  Island,  just  as  I  have  found  it 
to  be  elsewhere,  and  contrary  to  the  statements  of  other  observers,  it  is 
perfectly  possible,  with  sulTicient  time  at  one's  disposal,  eventually  to  mark 
down  individual  birds  on  ttieir  nests  and,  when  they  are  disturbed,  to  follow 
them  with  the  eye  throughout  the  mazes  of  the  hovering  hordes. 

The  presence  of  the  Semipalmated  Plover  or  Ringneck,  breeding  abun- 
dantly, was  one  of  the  many  surprises  that  awaited  me  on  this  interesting 
island.  The  nearest  locality  at  which  it  has  recently  been  recorded  as 
breeding  is  the  Magdalen  Islands  in  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.'  However, 
Dr.  Gilpin  in  1858  wrote  as  follows:  "  Ringneck  {C/inradiiiis  Torticollis) 
and  Peeps  {Tringa  tniiiiita)  were  breeding  in  numbers.  ..."  "  Torti- 
collis,'" a  curious  confounding  with  'wry-neck,'  of  course  refers  to  two 
species,  but  the  reference  to  tlie  Least  Sandpijier  is  certainly  a  valid  record 
of  fact.  The  nests  of  the  Semipalmated  Plover  were  little  more  than  hollows 
in  the  sand,  carelessly  lined  with  a  few  scraps  of  eel-grass  or  bits  of  dry  grass, 
and  were  placed,  without  the  least  attempt  at  concealment,  in  all  kinds  of 
places,  the  sandier,  more  barren  situations  being  usually  chosen.  A  favorite 
site  was  among  the  fringe  of  drift  cast  up  on  the  shore  of  the  lagoon,  where 
the  eggs  harmonized  marvelously  with  their  surroundings,  and  were  easily 
overlooked.     The  bird  leaves  tiie  nest  the  moment  an  intruder  is  spied. 

To  my  surprise,  I  find  that  there  is  no  intimation  by  those  who  have  met 
with  this  species  in  its  northern  haunts  that  it  has  any  love  song.  As  a 
matter  of  fact  the  male  sings  frequently  and  loudly,  though  not  very  musi- 
cally. The  liquid  sweetness  of  the  well-known  call-note  is  lacking,  and 
there  is  some  suggestion  of  the  A-ow-kow  notes  of  the  Black-billed  Cuckoo. 
The  song  consists  of  a  rather  harsh,  resonant  t-ichiip,  monotonously 
repeated  over  and  over  at  the  rate  of  about  forty  times  per  minute,  and  ex- 
tending over  a  period  of  four  or  five  minutes.  During  its  execution  the 
bird  sweeps  erratically  hither  and  thither,  near  the  ground,  with  slowly 
flapping  wings  that  are  momentarily  held  extended  straight  up  above  the 
body.  The  flight  is  most  suggestive  of  that  of  the  Niglithawk,  and,  like  the 
song,  it  is  not  at  all  what  one  might  expect  from  acquaintance  with  the 
birds  during  their  migrations.  On  Sable  Island  they  are  known  as 
'  Black  Ringnecks,'  to  distinguish  them  from  the  '  White  Ringnecks,'  as 
the  Belted  Piping  Plovers  are  called. 


'Bishop,  Auk,  VI,  1889,  147. 


i8  .Mi;.M(;iKs  OK  riiK  mttall  okmtmolooical  club. 

The  presiMice  of  tlic  latter  subspecies,  Iieretofore  considered  a  bird  of 
the  Nortlnvest  and  straying  only  occasionally  to  the  Atlantic  coast,  was 
another  of  Sable  Island's  surprises.  They  are  outnumbered  by  the  Semi- 
paltnati'd  Plovers  |ierhaps  a  liuiuhed  Ibid,  but  the}"  are  moderately 
abundant.  'I'hey  lay  their  eggs  in  hollows  made  in  the  sand,  without  any 
atti-mpt  at  a  nest.  The  eggs  are  like  those  of  the  ordinary  Piping  Plover 
(which  bird  I  did  not  lind  on  the  island),  fniely  speckled  on  a  light 
ground,  and  quite  unlike  the  eggs  of  the  Seinipalmated  Plover,  which  are 
heavily  spotted  on  a  dark  grounil.  The  birds  themselves,  including  the 
females,  had  the  neck-ring  of  black  complete  and  conspicuous.  The 
([uestion  of  distribution  raised  by  these  facts  is  an  intcrestinif  one. 

Another  un(;.\pected  species  Ibund  on  Sable  Island  was  the  Least  Sand- 
piper, although  Dr.  Gilpin  uuntions  it  back  in  1858.  Recent  observers 
have  found  it  breeding  in  Labrador,  and  doubtl'ully  refer  it  to  Newfounil- 
land  and  the  Magdalen  Islands.  On  Sable  Island  it  abounds,  though 
far  less  abundant  than  the  S  "mipalmated  Plover,  and  unlike  the  latter 
contines  it  If  to  the  turfy  stretches  adjacent  to  the  inland  ponds.  Tiiis 
is  another  water-bird  whose  love  song  has  never  been  mentioned  by  those 
who  seem  to  have  been  well  acquainted  with  the  species  in  its  northern 
haunts.  This  is  all  the  more  surprising,  inasmuch  as  the  song  is  striking 
—  quite  musical  in  fact,  and  more  metallic  than  that  of  the  Seinipalmated 
Plover,  which,  however,  it  resembles  in  monotonous  repetition.  It,  too, 
is  delivered  on  the  wing,  but  the  flight  of  the  little  Sandpiper  is  quite 
different.  He  poises  often  high  in  air  with  a  scries  of  rapid  flaps  of 
the  wings,  followed  by  a  soaring  forward  (never  in  circles)  while  the 
wings  are  stifHy  set  for  a  few  moments.  The  flight  of  the  Meadowlark, 
or  of  the  Spotted  Sandpiper,  is  suggested.  Meanwhile  the  song,  consisting 
of  two  rapidly  repeated  syllables,  the  inflection  rising,  and  the  emphasis 
falling  on  the  secoi.d,  continues  to  vibrate  in  the  air.  The  intonation  • 
is  very  like  that  of  the  spring  note  of  tlie  common  toad,  and  the  couplet 
toi'i-iir'  is  repeated  one  hundred  and  thirty  times  every  minute.  As  the 
length  of  the  whole  performance  is  usually  about  ten  minutes  without 
any  break,  the  monotony  of  such  a  song  is  very  obvious,  although  it 
blended  pleasantly  with  the  harsh  cries  of  the  ever-present  Terns  and  had 
a  silvery  tinkle  about  it  when  heard  off  in  the  drifting  fog.  At  its  close 
the  performer  would  glide  to  the  ground  with  t!ie  low,  cheerful  chuckle 
that  is  familiar  to  us  during  the  migration,  and  perhaps  scamper  away  with 
his  mate  along  the  margin  of  some  sandy  pool.  The  nest  is  placed  in  the 
dry  turf  where  there  is  actually  not  enough  grass  to  conceal  a  croquet- 
ball,  and  tiie  males  assist  in  incubating  the  eggs  which  are  so  extraordin- 
arily large  for  the  size  of  the  birds.      They  sit  on  the  nests  until   fairly 


TMK   IPHWICII  SPARROW.  ^      =-        ^  IJ 

trodden  upon,  and  then  tumble  along  over  the  ground,  as  if  injured,  to 
divert  your  attention  from  their  treasures,  which  stand  vt'ry  nearly  on 
their  pointed  ends  in  the  deep  cup  prepared  for  liiem.  The  birds  are  tame 
and  certainly  deserve  the  pleasing  accounts  that  liave  been  written  of  them 
by  Audubon,  Nuttall,  Dr.  Coues,  and  others. 

Of  the  two  species  of  Uucks  that  are  summer  residents  on  tiie  island,  the 
Red-breasted  Merganser  is  the  more  abundant,  altht)ugh  both  are  much 
diminished  in  numbers  comjiared  with  what  they  used  to  be,  and  the  fo.xes 
are  now  making  sad  havoc  with  the  handful  that  remains.  Dr.  Gilpin 
mentions  '*  HIack  Duck  (Anas  ohscnro)  and  the  Shell  Drake  (Merganser)." 
Where  n  Duck  can  be  seen  silting  on  her  nest  in  an  exposed  situation,  as  is 
often  the  case,  the  foxes  do  not  have  to  searcli  for  them,  and  it  is  only  some 
of  the  nests  hidden  away  in  liie  brier-patches  that  can  possibly  escape. 

The  rarest  of  the  summer  residents  is  the  Spotted  Sandpiper,  for  I 
knew  of  but  two  pairs  on  the  island. 

I  have  now  enumerated,  with  the  exception  of  the  Ipswich  Sparrow,  all 
the  birds  that  breed,  but  there  are  many  other  visitors.  I  used  to  see  almost 
daily  a  flock  of  Kittiwake  Gulls  (Rissa  /n'lhictyla),  but  dissection  of  speci- 
mens showed  that  there  were  no  signs  whatever  of  breeding.  Occasionally 
single  birds  or  even  flocks  of  the  Herring  and  Great  Black-backed  Gulls 
{^Larus  arffciilnliis  stnithsonianns  and  /,.  t/Kin'ntis)  were  seen,  and  on  foggy 
nights  Petrels  {Ocainodro)ita  Inicorhoa)  used  to  come  about  the  lighthouses 
in  numbers,  following  their  nocturnal  proclivities,  and  wanilering  doubtless 
from  their  burrows  on  the  Nova  Scotia  coast.  A  few  dusky  Jaegers 
('  Gull  Chasers'  or  '  Bos'ns,'  as  they  are  called)  were  sometimes  seen  far  out 
over  the  bars.  The  only  specimen  I  obtained  was  a  bleached  and 
mummified  carcass  of  Stcrcorarins  parasiticus  that  had  washed  up  on 
the  beach.  During  the  early  days  of  my  stay  a  few  belated  migrants, 
chiefly  Warblers,  played  at  hide  and  seek  about  the  barns  and  woodpiles, 
wondering  perhaps  how  they  had  got  into  a  country  so  devoid  of  sheltering 
trees'  and  bushes.  Soon  they  all  disappeared,  and  it  was  later  when 
waifs  from  the  mainland  (such  for  instance  as  Jiinco  /lycmulis,  Empidonax 
Jlavivcntris,  Clta'tura  fclagica,  and  others)  made  their  appearance, 
possibly  losing  their  way  in  the  fog  or  drifted  along  by  the  wind.  After 
loitering  for  a  few  days  they,  too,  would  disappear,  to  be  replaced  later 
by  other  waifs.  I  was  informed  that  in  the  spring  few  Shore-birds  or 
Ducks  visit  the  island,  and  that  in  the  autumn  they  are  not  as  abundant 
as  the  situation  of  the  island  would  seem  to  promise. 

If  now  I  have  been  successful  in  placing  before  my  readers  a  rough  picture 
of  the  island  home  of  the  Ipswich  Sparrow,  they  will  better  appreciate  the 
historical  sketch  and  life-history  of  the  bird  which  I  am  about  to  present, 
prefacing  the  same  with  the  necessary  synonymy  and  descriptions. 


20        MEMOIRS  OK  THE  NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 


Synonymy. 

Ammodramus  princcps  (Riaynard). 
Ii'swicH  Sparkuw. 

Centronyx  bairdii,  Mavnard,  Am.  Nat.  Ill,  554,  1869  ('original  notice  of 
stipiMiscd  otcurrencL'  of  Ci'ntronyx  luiirdii  in  Ma.ssachusetts,  the  bird  proving  to  be 
a  new  species,  Ammoiirttmiis  priiuY/>s)\  Nat.  (luide,  112,  frontisp.,  1870  (original 
description  and  woodcut  of  the  supposed  C.  luiin/ii). —  .Xi.i.kn,  Am.  Nat.  Ill,  513,  631, 
1869-70  (further  notice  of  same). —  Samukls,  lids.  New  Kngl.  581,  1870  (reference  to 
same) ;  N.  and  K.  Hds.  581, 1883  (—  Bds.  New  Engl.,  1870,  retitled). —  Urkwstkr,  Am. 
Nat.  VI,  307,  iH?.'  (two  additional  ypecimens  from  Massachusetts). —  Coi;es,   Key, 

>3S-  .^.S2.  '872. 

Passerculus  princcps,  Mavnard,  Am.  Nat.  VI,  637,  1872  (explanation  of 
error,  and  tiie  supposed  C.  haiitlii  named  Passerculus  princcps^  \  Nat.  (Juide,  2d.  ed., 
112,  1877  (colored  plate,  text  revised);  Bds.  Florida,  pt.  iv,  loi,  1878  (good  general 
account,  colored  plate);  Hds.  K.  N.  Am.  loi,  1881  (=  Uds.  Florida,  1878,  retitled). — 
C'oi;iis,  Key,  352,  1872  ;  Am.  Nat.  VII,  696,  1873  (brief  references  to  the  early  cap- 
tures) ;  Check-List,  31,  1873;  Field  Orn.  (part  2,  Check-List),  31,  1874  (  =  reprint 
of  1873  Check-List)  ;  Bid!.  N.  O.  C.  Ill,  i,  1878  (synonyny,  bihliof^rapliy) ;  Check-List, 
id.  ed..  52,  160,  1882  ;  Key,  2d  ed.,  361,  1884. —  Baird,  Brkw.  and  Ridhw.  Hist.  N. 
Am.  Bds.  I,  533,  540,  pi.  25,  f.  2,  1874  (general  account,  with  description  and  colored 
plate  of  headj. —  Brkwkr.  I'roc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.  XVII,  441,  1875  (New  F.ngland)  ; 
///■(/.  XIX,  305,  1878  (further  records)  ;  ///W.  XX,  270,  1879  (references). —  Brown, 
Rod  and  Gun,  VI,  81,  1875  (Maine);  Bull.  N.  O.  C.  II,  27,  1877  (  New  Hamp.shire, 
doubtful);  Lippincott's  Mag.  XXIII,  622,  1879  (woodcut,  Maine);  Bull.  N.  O.  C.  VII, 
190,   1882  ;     Froc.  Portl.  .Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,   13,  1882.  —  Brkwstkr,  Bull.  N.   XC.  I,  18, 

1876  (New  England) ;  ibid.  52,  1876  (New  Brunswick);  Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  N.  H.  XXII, 
374,  1883  (not  found  on  Magdalen  Islands). —  Jordan,  Man.  Verteb.,  84,  1876. — 
Merriam,  Bull.  N.  O.  C.  I,  52,  1876  (Connecticut)  ;  Trans.  Conn.  .Acad.  IV,  pt.  ii.  36, 

1877  ;  Auk,  I,  390,  1884  (Sable  Island,  Nova  Scotia,  probably  breeding). —  IJailey, 
Bull.  N.  O.  C.  II,  78,  1877  (New  York).— Giehel,  Thes.  Orn.  Ill,  38,  1877  (placed 
in  Zoiwtiichia). —  Minot,  Bds.  New  Engl.,  195,  1877  (general  account);  ibid.  2d  ed. 
(Brewster),  201,  1895. —  Ai.len,  Bull.  Essex  Inst.,  X,  16,  1878  (Massachusetts). — 
N.T.Lawrence,  F.  andS.,  X,  235,  1878  (early  captures,  New  Jersey);  Bull.  N.  O.  C. 
Ill,  102,  1878  (—  previous  record). —  W.  A.  Jeffries,  Bull.  N.  O.  C.  IV,  103,  1879 
(habits,  comparison  of  plumage  with  A.  s.  savanna). — Aniiorr,  F.  and  S.  XIV,  44, 
1880  (New  Jersey).— Ridoway,  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  Ill,  178,  217,  1880;  ibid.  IV, 
211,  1881  ;  Auk,  I,  292,  1884  (supposed  eggs  from  Sable  Island,  N.  S.). —  Woolsey, 
Bull.  N.  O.  C.  V,  121,  1880  (Connecticut).— Scott,  Bull.N.  O.  C.  VI,  116,  1881  (New 
Jersey). —  Stearns,  New  Engl.  Bd.  Life,  I,  235,  1881.^  Chamheri.ain,  Bull.  N.  H.  Soc. 
N.  Bruns.  I,  38,  1882  (  =  Brewster,  Bull.  N.  O.  C.  52,  1876);  Bull.  N.  O.  C.  VIII,  8, 
1883  (flock);  Bull.  N.  H.  Soc.  N.  Bruns.  II,  40,  1883  (=  previous  record). —  Inger- 
SOLL,  Birds'-Nesting,  93,  1882  (nidification  unknown). —  Dutcher,  O.  and  0.  VIII,  48, 


TIIK    IPSWICH    SI'ARUOW.  J I 

1883  (New  York);  Auk,  I,  31,  1884  (  =,  previous  record);  ihiJ.  II,  36,  1885  (ni;iny 
specimens  from  Long  Island,  N.  Y.). --  Gkikunc;,  ().  and  (.).  VIll,  ii,  1883  (New 
York). —  Smith,  F.  and  S.  XIX,  466,  1883  (Maine,  rare  in  spring). —  LAmiii.i.E,  IWs. 
E.  N.  Am.,  199,  1884  (mere  mention). —  llismu',  ().  andf).  X,  30,  1885  (Connecticut). 

—  Dwic.MT,  Auk,  II,  105,  1885  (Delaware). 

Passerculus  maynardi,  Kaihu,  Dhkw.  and  Kii)(;w.,  Hist.  N.  Am.  Bds.  I,  541, 
1874  (l(i/>suf  pt'niur  in  text  I. 

Zonotrichia  princeps,  (Jikhki.,  Thes.  Orn.  Ill,  38,  77J,  1877  {Passerculus  a 
synonym  of  /.onotrli/iia). 

Ammodramus  princeps,  Ridcwav,  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  VIII,  354,  1885 
(placed  in  };enus  Amwudnimiis);  Man.  N.  Am.  Hds.,  407,  1887. —  Am.kn,  Hull.  .Anicr. 
Mus.,  I,  no.  7,251,  1886;  .Auk,  X,  126,  1893  (faunal  relations).  -  A.  ().  If.,  t'heck-I.ist, 
265,  1886;  il'iii.  al)ridf;ed  ed.,48,  1889. —  DinciiKK,  Auk,  III,  441,  1886  (distribution, 
food);  F.  and  S.,  XXXIV,  206,  1890.— Jone.s,  Auk,  111,135,  1886  (Nova  Scotia 
mainland  in  spring). —  SKNNKrr,  -Auk,  III,  135,  iSSfl  (Texas,  probable  error  in  label). 

—  CiiAMiiKKi.AiN,  Cat.  Ciinad.  lids.,  85,  1887  (New  llrunswick.  Nova  Scotia) ;  Table 
Canad.  Bds.,  10,  1888;  Ornith.  U.  S.  and  Can.  (revis.  NutfU's  Man.)  I,  326,  1891 
(brief  mention). —  Cookk,  Migrat.  Miss.  Valley,  188,1888  (occurrence  in  Texas 
doubted). —  JoRD.N,  Man.  Verteb.  stii  ed.  286,  1888. —  Shaki'E,  Cat.  I'asserif.  pt.  Ill, 
679,  1888  (synonymy,  description). —  Bishop,  Auk,  VI,  199,  1889. —  Brown,  Proc. 
Portl.  Soc.  39,  1889. —  Davik,  Nests  and  Kggs,  3d  ed.  298,  1889  (=,  pr.-ictically, 
Ridgw.  Auk,  1884). —  Mavnard,  Kggs  N.  Am.  lids.  104,  1890  (autlienticatL'd  eggs 
unknown). —  J.  Nki.son,  Geol.  Surv.  N.  J.  11,  541,  1890. —  Rivks,  Proc.  Newport  Soc. 
N.  tl.,  Doc.  VII,  73,  1890  (Virginia). —  Wortmi.vcjton,  Auk,  VII,  21 1,  1890  (Georgia). 

—  AvERii.i,,  Hridgeixirt  Sci.  Soc.  14,  1892  (Connecticut,  rare). —  Laurent,  O.  and  (). 
XVII,  88,  1892  (New  JersL'y).— STt)Ni;,  Auk,  IX,  204,  1892  ;  Bds.  K.  Penn.  and  N.  J. 
112,  1894  (New  Jersey,  winter  resident). —  Apuar,  Key,  28,  1893. —  Brewster,  Auk, 
X,  302,  1893  (=.  Worthington,  1890);  ibid.,  X,  365. —  Chapman,  Bds.  Vicin.  N.  Y. 
City,  59,  1894  (winter  resident);  Ilandb.  Bds.  Ka.st.  N.  A.  291,  1895. —  Wright,  Bird- 
craft,  146,  1895. 

Large  Barren  Ground  Sparrow,  Ipswich  Sparrow,  Pallid  Sparrow,  Maynard's 
Sparrow,  Ipswich  Savanna  Sparrow,  of  authors. 

Habitat. 

Sable  Lsland,  Nova  Scotia,  partly  resident.  In  migration  confined  closely 
to  the  seacoast  soulluvard,  wiiiterinir  casually  in  New  England,  more  abun- 
dantly Irom  New  York  to  Virginia,  and  occasionally  reaching  Georgia. 

Descriptions. 

Male  and  female  in  breeding  plumage. —  Top  of  head  sepia  brown'  with  darker 
streaking  and  a  median  ashy  white  line;  rest  of  upper  parts  ashy  or  smoke  gray, 
most  pronounced  on  the  nape,  obscurely  streaked  on  the  neck   ind  rump,  broadly 

'  Ridgwaj's  nomenclature  of  colors  is  used  in  these  descriptions. 


2  2  MEMOIRS   OF  THE   NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

striped  on  the  back  and  upper  tail  coverts  with  deep  brown.  Each  feather  (includ- 
ing the  scapuiaries,  the  tertiaries  and  most  of  the  wing  coverts)  is  centrally  clove 
brown,  merging  into  an  outer  zone  of  sepia  or  Vandyke,  broadly  edged  (narrowly 
on  the  crown)  with  gray  which,  on  the  inner  webs  of  the  median  feathers  of  the 
crown,  on  the  back,  and  on  the  tertiaries,  becomes  conspicuously  ashy  white  and 
forms  two  obscure  wing-bars  at  the  tips  of  the  greater  and  median  coverts.  The 
coverts  and  the  outer  webs  of  the  scapuiaries,  tertiaries  and  secondaries,  are  tinged 
with  pale  russet.  Quill-feathers  of  the  wings  and  tail  deep  hair  brown  above,  paler 
below,  the  two  outer  rectrices  slightly  paler  than  the  rest,  the  shafts  lighter  colored, 
the  webs  (chiefly  the  oater)  narrowly  edged  with  ashy  white.  Under  parts  white, 
streaked  rather  broadly  with  brown  along  thj  sides  from  the  bill  to  the  tail  and  on 
the  breast,  giving  the  etlect  of  spotting  when  the  plumage  is  disarranged.  The 
individual  feathers  have  central  linear  spots  of  clove  brown  that  merge  into  narrow 
zones  of  russet-tinged  vandyke.  A  conspicuously  dark,  suhmalar  streak  is  continued 
along  the  sides  in  two  fairly  definite  lines  that  are  supplemented  by  others  on  the 
breast,  where  they  aggregate  into  an  obscure  central  blotch,  the  entire  inner  web 
of  .some  of  the  median  feathers  being  of  a  rusty  brown.  The  chin  and  jugulum  are 
immaculate  and,  together  with  a  malar  stripe,  broadening  posteriorly,  are  pure  white. 
A  dark  brown  rictal  streak  curves  upward  towards  a  paler  postociilar  line.  The 
auriculars  are  ashy  or  brown-tinged ;  the  lores  paler.  A  broad  superciliary  line  is 
canary  yellow,  becoming  ashy  posteriorly.  The  orbital  ring  is  whitish,  more  or  less 
tinged  with  yellow.  Lining  of  wing  and  longer  under  tail  coverts  (the  shorter  are 
entirely  white  and  conceal  the  others)  white  with  dusky  shaft  streaks.  Uend  of  wing 
tinged  with  yellow,  which  sometimes  also  suffuses  the  lesser  external  coverts.  Tibia; 
pale  Vandyke.  Legs,  in  fresh  specimen,  yellowish  or  brownish  flesh-color,  fading  in 
time  to  a  pale  yellowish  buff.  Feet  darker,  especially  at  the  joints.  Mill  in  fresh 
specimens:  upper  mandible  bluish  black,  giayish  or  yellowish  along  posterior  two 
thirds  of  the  edge,  fading  in  time  to  a  blackish  brown ;  lower  mandible  bluish  gray 
at  tip,  becoming  a  pale  flesh  brown  posteriorly,  and  flesh-color  at  the  base,  fading 
in  time  to  a  yellowish  buff.  Iris  deep  hazel  brown.  The  sexes  are  alike  in  plumage 
differing  only  in  relative  size. 

During  the  breeding  season,  the  plumage  becoming  much  abraded,  the  pale 
edgings  of  the  feathers  are  lost  to  such  an  extent  that  the  birds,  instead  of  appearing, 
like  most  species,  paler  and  faded,  are  really  darker,  and  the  streakings  are  sharper, 
than  at  any  other  season  of  the  year.  The  yellow  over  the  eye,  acquired  late  in  the 
spring  moult,  is  equally  intense  in  both  sexes,  although  the  individual  intensity  is 
variable.  The  feathers  of  the  lower  parts  are  white  only  at  their  extremities,  and 
if  disarranged  easily  show  the  mouse-gray  of  their  proximal  portion. 

Adults  in  autumn.  Above  hoary,  even  grayer  than  in  spring  dress,  owing  to  the 
broad  ashy  edgings  of  the  feathers.  The  russet  on  the  wings  is  a  little  more  pro- 
nounced, the  Vandyke  zone  of  the  dorsal  feathers  is  broader,  and  the  superciliary 
line  is  ashy  white  or  only  faintly  tinged  with  yellow.  IJeneath,  a  slight  buffy  cast 
prevails  except  on  the  chin,  abdomen,  and  lower  tail  coverts,  and  tiie  streakings 
are  suffused,  and  paler  and  rustier  than  in  spring.  This  effect  is  due  largely  to  a 
wider  zone  of  the  vandyke  and  to  the  long,  veiling,  white  margins  of  the  feathers. 


THE  IPSWICH   SPARROW.  33 

Young  of  t/ie  year.  Differs  from  the  adult  in  the  brownish,  rather  than  grayish, 
tints  above,  in  the  richer,  deeper  russet  on  the  wings,  and  in  the  decided  buffy  wash 
that  suffuses  the  head,  the  neck,  and  the  under  parts.  This  buffuiess  is  most 
marked  on  the  sides  and  breast,    nd  it  strongly  tinges  the  malar  stripe  and  auriculars. 

Young  in  first  plumage.  {$ ,  juv.,  No.  3870,  collection  of  J.  Dwight,  Jr.,  Sable 
Island,  Nova  Scotia,  August  25,  1894.)  Top  of  head,  neck  and  rump,  yellowish 
buff,  tinged  with  ochraceous,  and  streaked  narrowly  with  deep  clove  brown.  An 
indistinct  median  stripe  on  the  crown  is  pale  buff.  I5ack  and  upper  tail  coverts 
buffy  or  ashy,  broadly  striped  with  deep  clove  brown.  Each  feather  has  a  large 
median,  almost  black,  elliptical  spot  that  merges  into  a  narrow  zone  of  buff  broadly 
edged  with  ashy  wiiite.  The  scapularies  are  partly  edged  with  vandyke  instead  of 
buff,  thus  producing  two  lateral  brown  stripes.  Quill-feathers  of  the  wings  and 
tail,  clove  brown,  edged,  chiefly  on  the  outer  webs,  with  pale  cinnamon  brown  which 
becomes  broader  and  richer  on  the  long  tertiaries,  while  the  margins  of  the  first 
primary,  the  short  tertiaries,  and  the  greater  and  median  coverts,  are  conspicuously  ashy 
white,  forming  on  the  coverts  two  obscure  wing-bars.  The  median  coverts  are 
dusky  and  show  little  or  no  cinnamon.  Beneath,  pale  yellowish  buff,  nearly  white 
on  chin,  abdomen,  and  under  tail  coverts;  streaked,  as  in  the  adult,  on  the  sides 
and  breast  with  deep  clove  brown,  almost  black.  Rictal  and  postocular  streaks 
strongly  tinged  with  vandyke.  Auriculars  pale  ochraceous  buff,  forming  a  distinct 
spot  on  the  side  of  the  hep  ;  lores  dusky.  Superciliary  stripe  ashy  gray.  Tibinj 
pale  cinnamon.     Legs,  f';et,  and  bill  similar  to  those  of  ,'he  adult,  but  somewhat  paler. 

The  relatively  larger  siz.e  and  paler  coloration  of  this  species  readily  distinguish 
it  in  all  plumages  from  A.  sandwichcnsis  savanna,  the  average  female  being  about  the 
size  of  the  male  savanna.  The  superficial  resemblance  to  certain  pale  Western  birds 
referable  to  A.  s.  alaudinus,  is  in  a  few  cases  rather  striking.  The  first  plumage  of 
savanna  is  everywhere  darker  than  that  of  princeps,  having  a  deep  ochraceous 
instead  of  a  buffy  cast,  while  the  margins  of  the  tertiaries  and  secondaries  are  a 
deep  cinnamon,  almost  chestnut,  and  the  streakings  are  somewhat  heavier. 

Measurements  of  50  males:  Length'  156(150-159);  extent'  257  (253-262);  wing 
76  (73-79);  t^i'  58-5  (SS-(i2);  tarsus  22.5  (21.5-24.5);  middle  toe  17.4  (16.5-18); 
claw  of  middle  toe  5.1  (4-6);  bill,  chord  of  exposed  culmen,  ii  (10-12.5);  bill 
from  nostril,  8.5  (7.5-9.5) ;  deoth  of  bill  at  nostril  5.9  (5-6.5). 

Measurements  of  50  females:  Length''  149  (142-159);  extent^  24i-3  (234-24''' 
wing  71  (67-74);  tail  55.4  (52-59);  tarsus  21.5  (20-23);    middle  toe  16.7  (15.5 
18);  claw  of  middle  toe  5  (3.5-6);  bill,  chord  of  exposed  culmen,  10.7  (10-11.5); 
bill  from  nostril  8.2  (7-9);  depth  of  bill  at  nostril  5.5  (5-6).' 


'Nine  specimens  only.  ^ 

•  .Sixteen  specimens  only. 

'  Average  measurements  in  inches,  of  the  above  specimens,  are  as  follows : — 

(J:     Length  6.14;  extent  10.11  ;  wing  2.99;  tail  2.30;  tarsus  .89;  middle  toe  .68;  claw  of  middle  toe 

20;  bill,  chord  of  exposed  culmen,  .44,  from  nostril  .33,  depth  at  nostril  .23. 

?  ;     Length  5.87  ;  extent  9.50;  wing  2.79;  tail  2.18;  tarsus  .85;  middle  toe  .66;  claw  of  middle  to* 

20;  bill,  chord  of  exposed  culmen,  .42,  from  nostril  .32,  depth  at  nostril  .22. 


2±  MEMOIRS  OF  THE  NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

History  of  the  Ipswich  Sparrow. 

Before  intruding  upon  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  in  the  privacy  it  has  enjoyed 
for  so  many  years  on  its  island  home,  it  is  worth  our  while  to  glean  from 
published  records  such  information  as  has  been  current  regarding  an 
imperfectly  known  species. 

Inasmuch  as  I  have  found  it  to  be  the  only  resident  bird  upon  Sable 
Island,  it  is  interesting  to  note  in  pn-rsing  that  as  early  as  1858,  Dr.  Gilpin 
in  a  pamphlet  upon  the  natural  history  of  the  island'  said  "  A  little  brown 
sparrow  {Fringilla  )  also  summered  and  wintered  there."     While 

this  is  undoubtedly  a  refercnc;  to  the  Ipswich  Sparrow,  his  importance  was 
not  recognized,  nor  did  he  appear  as  a  scientific  fact  until  Mr.  Maynard  in  the 
'  American  Naturalist'  for  December,  1869,  (p.  554)  thus  introduced  him, 
under  anotiier  bird's  name,  to  the  zoological  world:  "On  Dec.  4th,  1868,  I 
shot  a  sparrow  that  was  new  to  me,  on  the  sand-hills  at  Ipswich.  Through 
the  kindness  of  Prof.  S.  F.  Baird,  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  to  whom 
I  sent  it  for  comparison  with  the  only  extant  sficcimcn  of  th'^  Ccntronyx 
Bairdii  {\\h\c\\  is  owned  by  him),  it  has  been  proved  identical  with  that 
collected  by  Audubon  in  1843  on  the  banks  of  the  Yellowstone  River,  in 
the  far  West.  My  specimen  diflers  somewhat  in  size  and  general 
coloration  from  Prof.  Baird's.  A  detailed  description,  and  the  comparative 
measurements  of  the  two  specimens  will  be  given  in  a  work  about  to  be 
published,  entitled  '  A  Guide  to  Naturalists  in  collecting  and  preserving 
objects  of  Natural  History,'  which  will  also  contain  a  complete  list  of  the 
birds  of  Eastern  Massachusetts,  with  critical  notes  and  remarks  relative  to 
ti.e  localities  in  which  some  of  the  rarer  species  occur.  A  life-sized 
engraving  of  the  Ccntronyx  captured  at  Ipswich  will  also  be  given." 

In  justice  to  Prof.  Baird,  it  may  be  here  stated  that  at  that  time  there 
was  but  one  worn  and  faded  specimen  of  Baird's  Sparrow,  taken  nearly 
thirty  years  before,  with  which  to  make  comparison.  The  two  species 
really  resemble  one  another  but  very  slightly.  In  the  same  number  of 
the  'American  Naturalist'  (p.  513)  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  refers  to  the  Ipswich 
specimen  at  the  beginning  of  his  '  Notes  on  Some  of  the  Rarer  Birds  of 
Massachusetts,'  a  full  account  following  in  February,  1870,  (p.  631)  under 
'  Ccntronyx  Bairdii'  of  his  list.  During  the  year  1870  Mr.  Maynard's 
'Naturalists'  Guide'  was  published,  containing  a  wood-cut  and  original 
description  of  the  supposed  Baird's  Sparrow  (p.  112).  As  this  really 
applies  to  Aniinodramtis  frinccps,  I  take  the  liberty  of  quoting  the  article 
almost  entire :  — 

'  For  exact  references  to  this,  and  to  succeeding  papers  quoted,  reference  should  be  made  to  the 
bibliography  appended  at  page  43. 


THE   IPSWICH    SPARROW.  25 

75.  Centronyx  Bairdii,  V,mv.x^.—  Bainrs  Sparnnv.  It  is  with  pleasure  that 
I  add  this  uniciuc  sparrow  to  the  Catalo;;ue  of  the  Hirds  of  Eastern  Massachusetts. 
Previous  to  the  capture  of  this  there  was  but  one  specimen  extant,  which  was  one 
of  the  original  birds  captured  by  Audubon  upon  tlic  banks  of  tlie  Yellowstone  River, 
July  26,  1843.  My  specimen,  through  the  kindness  of  Professor  S.  F.  Baird,  has 
been  compared  with  the  original,  which  is  in  his  possession,  and  pronounced  identi- 
cal ;  but  as  mine  differs  somewhat  from  his,  I  have  thought  best  to  give  a  descrip- 
tion of  it  here.* 


Centronyx  Bairdii,  Baird. —  Baird';  Sfi-jrrmv. 
(See  Frontispiece.t) 

Embcriza  Bairdii.     Aui),  nirds  Americi,  VII,  1843  ;  PI.  500. 
Coturniculus  Ilairdii.     Bon.  S>n.  1850,  481. 
Centronyx  Bairdii.     Baird,  Birds  N.  Am.  185S,  441. 

Sp.  Ch. Back  grayish ;  the  middle  of  the  feathers  having  a  black  centre  edged 

with  rufous.  Top  of  head  streaked  with  dusky  and  pale  rufous,  divided  by  a  broad 
stripe  of  pale  yellowish  white.  There  is  also  a  whitish  superciliary  stripe  extend- 
ing from  the  base  of  the  bill  to  the  back  of  the  head.  Ear-coverts  grayish,  with  a 
rufous  tinge.  Quills  brownish,  edged  with  white  on  the  outer  web;  .scapularies, 
secondaries,  and  wing-coverts  brownish  black,  edged  broadly  with  rufous,  brightest 
on  the  secondaries ;  scapularies  also  edged  narrowly  with  white ;  the  ends  of  both 
rows  of  wing-coverts  narrowly  tipped  with  white,  forming  two  rather  indistinct  bars 
across  the  wings.  Tail  brownish,  with  the  tips  of  the  feathers  and  terminal  half  of 
the  outer  web  of  the  outer  tail-.'eathers  pale  yellowish  white:  the  rest  of  the  tail- 
feathers  narrowly  edged  with  the  same.  Under  parts,  including  under  tail-coverts, 
pure  white.  Feathers  of  the  sides  of  the  throat,  with  a  broad  band  across  the 
breast  and  sides,  streaked  with  rufous,  with  dusky  centres.  The  throat  is  indis- 
tinctly spotted  with  dusky.  A  triangular  spot  on  the  sides  of  the  neck,  below  the 
ear-coverts,  pale  buff;  ears  dusky.  Bill  dark  brown,  with  base  of  the  under 
mandible  paler.     Eyes  and  feet  brown. 

Differs  from  Poitcetcs  graminens,  which  in  general  form  it  resembles,  in  having  a 
central  stripe  on  the  head,  and  a  general  rufous  appearance,  also  in  having  longer 
tarsi,  toes,  and  claws.  With  Passerailiis  savanna  it  cannot  justly  be  compared,  as  it 
is  much  larger,  and  has  a  shorter  and  more  obtuse  bill.  Indeed,  so  nearly  does  it 
resemble  the  P.  gramineiis,  that  amateur  ornithologists  to  whom  I  have  shown  it  have 
unhesitatingly  pronounced  it  to  be  that  species. 


•"It  differs  in  color  just  as  clear  autumn.il  birds  differ  fiom  worn  breeding  ones, —  tints  paler, 
markings  more  suffused,  etc.  Tlie  stripe  along  tlie  top  of  liead  is  paler,  not  as  fulvous  as  in  the 
type;  but  in  all  essential  points  it  seems  to  be  the  same  bird."—  Professor  S.  F.  Baird,  in  Epist. 

t  The  convexity  of  the  upper  mandible  is  somewhat  exaggerated  in  the  plate. 
4 


a6  MEMOIRS  OF  'line    NUTTAI.L   ORNITHOLOGICAL   CLUB. 

I  give  the  comparative  measurements  of  the  two  specimens,  remarking  that 
Professor  Batrcl's  was  ni;\de  from  the  dried  skin,  wliile  mine  was  taken  from  the 
fresh  bird.' 

The  Ipswich  Sand-hills,  where  the  specimen  was  procured,  is  a  most  pecuHar 
place.  I  never  have  met  with  its  equal  anywhere.  Years  ago  these  Sand-hills,  which 
are  three  miles  long  liy  three  fourths  of  a  mile  across,  and  contain  about  one  thousand 
acres,  were  covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  pine-trees.  Protected  by  these  trees,  and 
among  them,  dwelt  a  tribe  of  Indians,  whose  earlier  presence  is  indicated,  not  only 
by  tradition,  but  by  numerous  shell  heaps  scattered  over  the  Sand-hills  at  irregular 
intervals.  Indeed,  even  now  the  ashes  of  camp-fires  may  be  seen,  apparently  fresh. 
Upon  the  advent  of  the  white  man,  the  usual  event  transpired,  namely,  the  disappear- 
ance of  the  trees ;  and  today,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  scattering  ones  at  the 
southeasterly  corner,  near  the  house  of  the  proprietor  of  the  Sand-hills,  Mr.  George 
Woodbury,  not  a  tree  is  to  be  seen.  All  is  bleak  and  barren.  The  surface  of  the 
ground,  once  covered  with  a  slight  deposit  of  soil,  has  become  a  mass  of  shifting 
sands.  Many  times  has  the  present  owner  had  cause  to  regret  the  want  of  foresight 
in  his  ancestors  in  removing  the  trees,  as  the  several  acres  of  arable  land  around  the 
house  are  now  covered  with  sand,  including  a  valuable  apple-orchard.  Upon  this 
orchard  the  sand  has  drifted  to  the  depth  of  thirty  feet.  Some  of  the  trees  present 
the  curious  phenomenon  of  apples  growing  upon  limbs  that  protrude  a  few  feet  only 
above  the  sand,  while  the  trunk  and  lower  branches  are  buried  I  The  Sand-hills,  in 
places,  are  covered  with  a  sparse  growth  of  coarse  grass,  upon  the  seeds  of  which,  as 
I  have  remarked  elsewhere,  thousands  of  Snow  Buntings  feed.  There  are,  in  some 
places,  sinks  or  depressions  with  the  level  of  the  sea.  In  these  sinks,  which,  except 
during  the  summer  months,  are  filled  with  fresh  water,  a  more  luxuriant  growth  of 
grass  appears.  Walking,  on  December  4,  1868,  near  one  of  these  places,  in  search 
of  Lapland  Longspurs,  I  started  a  Sparrow  from  out  the  tall  grass,  which  flew  wildly 
and  alighted  again  a  few  rods  away.  I  approached  the  spot,  surprised  at  seeing  a 
Sparrow  at  this  late  day  so  far  north,  especially  in  so  bleak  a  place.  After  some 
trouble  I  again  started  it.  It  flew  wildly  as  before,  when  I  fired,  and  was  fortunate 
enough  to  secure  it.  It  proved  to  be  Baird's  Sparrow.  When  I  found  I  had  taken  a 
specimen  which  I  had  never  seen  before,  —  although  at  that  time  I  did  not  know  its 
name  or  the  interest  attached  to  it,  —  I  instantly  went  in  search  of  more.  After  a 
time  I  succeeded  in  starting  another.  This  one,  however,  rose  too  far  off  for 
gunshot,  and  I  did  not  secure  it.  It  flew  away  to  a  great  distance,  when  I  lost  sight 
of  it.  After  this  I  thought  that  among  the  myriads  of  Snow  Buntings  that  continually 
rose  a  short  distance  from  me  I  again  detected  it,  but  I  was  perhaps  mistaken.  I  am 
confident  of  having  seen  it  in  previous  years  at  this  place,  earlier  in  the  season. 
********** 

'  The  comparative  measurements  (in  inches)  of  the  two  birds  are  given  as   follows  by   Mr. 
Maynard :  — 

LtHgth      ^i^ing      Tail     BUI  above    Bill  along  gafie        Tarsus     Miiidle  toe     Hind  toe 

and  claw       and  clatu 

Nebraska  bird,  4.64       2.77      2.10        0.49  0.50  0.84         o.gi  0.72 

Ma.ssachuselts  bird,      6.30       3.25      2.60        0.45  0.52  0.95  1.05  0.72 


THE   IPSWICH    SPARROW.  27 

I  think  it  more  probable  that  the  birds  which  occur  at  Ipswich  are  winter  visitors 
from  the  north,  than  that  they  are  stragglers  from  so  great  a  distance  as  Nebraska. 
As  might  be  expected,  I  heard  no  song-note  at  this  season,  but  simply  a  short  chirp 
of  alarm.' 

In  1872  Mr.  William  Brewster  recorded  tiie  following  captures:  "Mr. 
Maynard  also  informs  me  that  he  took  two  more  specimens  of  Baird's  Sparrow 
{Centronyx  Utiirdii),  October  14th  and  1511'  [1870],  on  the  Ipswich  sand- 
hills, thereby  confirming  the  hypothesis  advanced  by  him  in  the  '  Nat- 
uralists' Guide,'  namely,  that  they  are  regular  winter  visitants  from  the 
North."  The  capture  of  these  additional  specimens  led  to  the  discovery  by 
Mr.  Maynard  that  they  were  of  a  new  species,  and  towards  the  end  of  the 
year  1872,  in  the  'American  Naturalist'  for  October  (p.  637),  the  original 
error  was  corrected  by  him,  and  tlie  Ipswich  Sparrow  was  established  as  a 
new  species  in  the  following  words:  — 

In  December,  1868,  I  took  a  Sparrow  at  Ipswich  which  was  then  supposed  to  be 
Centronyx  Bairdii.  In  the  autumn  of  1870,  I  took  two  more  of  the  same  species, 
also  at  Ipswich  ;  but  upon  visiting  the  Smithsonian  Institution  this  spring  and  com- 
paring these  specimens  with  the  original  C.  Bairdii,  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  they  are  specifically  distinct.  They  are  closely  allied  to  the  savanna  sparrow 
and  evidently  belong  to  the  same  genus  ;  I  therefore  propose  to  name  the  Massa- 
chusetts bird  Passerculus  princeps,  the  large  barren  ground  sparrow.  The  Centronyx 
Bairdii  should  also,  I  think,  be  referred  to  the  genus  Passerculus,  for  I  can  see  no 
good  generic  character  by  which  it  can  be  .separated.  A  description  and  figure  of 
this  new  Passerculus  will  be  found  in  the  'Naturalists'  Guide'  (page  112),  under 
the  name  of  Centronyx  Bairdii,  with  a  history  of  the  capture  of  the  first  specimen  and 
also  an  account  of  how  this  name  came  to  be  applied  to  it.  It  will  likewise  be 
understood  that  the  name  of  Centronyx  Bairdii,  given  in  a  notice  in  the  May  number 
of  the  Naturalist  (page  307)  by  Mr.  Brewster,  should  read  Passerculus  princeps. 

Dr.  Coues  in  his  '  Key,'  published  in  1872,  under  '  Centronyx  bairdii,'' 
hinted  at  "  something  not  now  anticipated,"  and  in  the  appendix  recognized 
"P.  princeps  Maynard,"  saying,  "Although  perfectly  aware  of  this  at 
time  of  writing,  I  refrained  from  anticipating  publication  of  the  fact." 
From  this  time  on,  published  references  to  the  new  species  followed  iia 
rapid  succession,  and  it  may  be  of  interest  to  look  at  the  first  records  for 
the  different  States  and  Provinces.  Arranged  in  sequence  of  publication, 
they  are  as  follows  :  — 

'  In  the  second  edition,  1877,  of  the 'Guide,'  Mr.  Maynard,  in  the  new  light  thrown  upon  the  species, 
modified  some  of  these  statements  to  suit  the  species  to  which  they  really  referred,  and  there  is 
substituted  for  the  original  woodcut  a  very  fair  hand-colored  plate  of  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  under  its 
proper  name. 


28  MEMOIRS  OF   TlIK   MTTAI.I.   OUMTIIOI.OOJCAL   CLLD. 

Massachusetts. —  Ipswich,  December  4,  1868.     Maynard,  Am.  Nat.  Ill,   December, 

18(^9.  SS4- 
Maine.—- Cape  Elizabeth,  March  20,  1875.     Brown,  Rod  and  Gun,  VI,  May  8,  1875,  81. 
New   Urunswick.— Toint  Lepreaux,  April   11,    1876.     IJrewster,  Bull.    Nutt.    (Jrnith. 

Club,  I,  July,  1876,  52. 
Connecticut. —  'South  End,' New  Haven,  November  4,  1875.     Merriam,  Bull.  Nutt. 

Ornith.  Club,  I,  July,  1876,  52. 
[.>  New  Hampshire.— Lake  Umbagog,  October  9,  1876.     Brown,  Bull.  Nutt.   Ornith. 

Club,  II,  January,  1877,  .ij.] 
New  York. —  Coney  Island,  Long  Island,  December  20,    1876.     Bailey,   Bull.   Nutt. 

Ornith.  Club,  II,  July,  1877,  78. 
Nova  Scotia. —  Sable  Island,  summer  of  1884.     Merriam,  Auk,  I,  October,  1884,  390. 
Delaware.— Rehoboth  Beach,  November  22,  1884.    Dwight.Auk,  II, January,  1885,  105. 
Rhode   Island.— Point  Judith,  November  27,    1884.     [Jencks,]  Random   Notes,  II, 

March,  1885,  17. 
[?Texas. —  Dallas,  December  10,  1884.     Sennett,  Auk,  III,  January,  1886,  135.] 
Virginia. —  Cobb's  Island,  "common  in  winter."     Rives,  Proc.    Newport   Nat.   Hist. 

Soc,  1889-90,  73. 
Georgia.— '  Jack's  Bank,' Glynn  County,  January  8,  1890.     VVorthington,  Auk,  VII, 

April,  1890,  211. 

Two  of  these  records  are  open  to  such  grave  doubt  that  it  is  vvortli  our 
while  to  examine  the  evidence  on  which  they  rest.  The  first  is  the  one  for 
New  Hampshire  by  Mr.  Brown  who  writes:  "On  the  9th  of  October, 
1876,  I  met  with  one  of  these  birds  on  a  sandy  point  on  the  northwest  shore 
of  Lake  Umbagog,  in  New  Hampshire.  I  should  hesitate'  to  record  the 
occurrence  of  this  species  in  a  locahty  so  far  removed  from  its  known 
haunts,  it  not  having  been  before  observed  so  far  in  the  interior,  since,  from 
the  miss-fire  of  two  cartridges  in  succession  I  failed  to  capture  my  bird, 
were  I  not  perfectly  acquainted  with  its  almost  unmistakable  habits." 
Unfortunately,  its  habits  do  tioi  distinguish  it  from  the  Savanna  Sparrow, 
which  under  certain  conditions  of  light  might  easily  be  confounded  with  it. 
Besides,  it  confines  itself  so  exclusively  to  the  seacoast  that  its  appearance 
so  far  inland  under  any  circumstances  would  be  highly  exceptional.  It  is 
safer,  therefore,  to  apply  rigidly  the  too  often  slighted  rule  that  the  capture 
of  a  specimen,  especially  where  there  is  room  for  doubt,  shall  be  the 
accepted  evidence  of  its  occurrence,  and  thus  exclude  the  sole  record  for 
the  State. 

The  species  has  been  recorded  as  a  bird  of  Texas  by  Mr.  Sennett,  as 
follows:  "I  have  in  my  collection  an  adult  male  Ammodramtis  friuce-ps 
taken  at  Dallas,  Texas,  Dec.  10,  1884.  I  obtained  it  from  Mr.  Fred.  T. 
Jencks  of  Providence,   who  writes    me  in  regard  to  it  as  follows :  '  The 


TilE    IPSWICH    SPARROW.  29 

Ipswich  Sparrow  was  purchased  from  tlie  collector,  Mr.  Clothrie  [it  should 
be  Clothier]  Pierce,  for  a  Western  Grass  Finch,  and  it  was  so  labelled 
until  the  da}-  I  picked  out  your  series  of  Sparrows,  when  I  detected  its  true 
identity.'  This  largely  extends  the  habitat  of  this  comparatively  new  species, 
heretofore  only  recognized  on  the  sand  lulls  of  the  Atlantic  Coast."  A 
couple  of  years  later  this  record  was  challe.iged  in  Cooke's  '  Hird  Migration 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley'  (p.  i8d),  wh<'ie  it  is  stated  "there  is  reason  to 
suspect  that  the  specimen  really  came  tVom  the  coast  of  New  Englaiui,  the 
error  having  arisen  from  a  transposition  of  labels."  I  have  carefully 
examined  the  specimen,  and  investigated  its  history  as  far  as  possible.  It 
is  apparently  a  female  frinccps,  judging  by  size  (not  a  male  as  the  label 
indicates),  although  it  certainly  resembles  quite  closely  one  or  two  extremely 
pale  male  specimens  of  the  Western  Savanna  Sparrow  occurring  among 
some  two  hundred  examined.  Now,  Mr.  Pierce's  labels  were  ordinary 
tags,  and  they  were  notoriously  loosely  tied.  Many  came  oil'  entirely,  and 
his  lot  of  birds  from  Texas  is  said  to  have  lain  in  tlie  dr  ,c.'s  of  one  New 
England  dealer  before  it  passed  into  the  hands  of  another  from  whom 
Mr.  Sennett  obtained  the  specimen.  Dealers  are  fallible,  even  with  the 
best  of  intentions.  A  loose  Texas  label  accidentally  attached  to  an 
unlabelled  Ipswich  Sparrow,  of  which  there  were  said  to  have  been  a 
number  in  near  proximity,  is  a  far  more  plausible  explanation  than 
to  assume  that  an  Ipswich  Sparrow  was  found  two  hundred  ant',  fifty 
miles  from  the  seacoast  and  over  one  thousand  from  the  nearest,  and 
most  southern,  point  from  which  it  has  ever  been  recorded.  Of  course 
with  wings  such  an  excursion  is  not  impossible,  but  it  is  scarcely  con- 
ceivable that  a  northern,  coast-frequenting  species  would  make  such  a 
trip  for  pleasure,  while  a  storm  theory  is  hardl}-  tenable,  because  storms 
carr}'  our  birds  northward  and  eastward,  not  southward  and  westward. 

Resuming  again  the  history  of  the  species  at  the  point  where  we 
digressed,  we  find  Mr.  Brewster  saying  of  it  in  1876  (Bull.  N.  O.  C, 
p.  18)  :  ".  .  .  the  establishment  of  a  fixed  fact  like  that  recently  developed, 
of  the  regular  seasoiuil  appearance  in  considerable  numbers  of  Passcrculus 
princcps  along  our  New  England  coast,  cannot  fail  to  prove  of  the  utmost 
practical  value  to  the  ornithologist,  and  reflectant  o*"  great  and  lasting  credit 
on  the  fortunate  discoverer."  In  1878  Dr.  J.  A.  Allen  gave  the  Ipswich 
Sparrow  in  his  list  of  birds  of  Massachusetts  as  a  "rare  winter  visitant, 
occurring  chiefly  near  the  coast.  Has  been  met  with  from  Prince 
Edward's  Island  and  New  Hampshire  to  Long  Island."  "  Prince  Edward's 
Island"  must  be  a  slip  of  the  pen,  for  the  species  has  never  been  taken 
there.  In  that  year  Dr.  T.  M.  Brewer  remarked  that  "the  gradual 
accumulation  of  observations  in  reference  to  this  new  and   rare  species 


30  MEMOIRS  OF  THE  NUITALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

point  to  its  re^nilar  migratory  appearance  along  the  Atlantic  coast  of 
New  En.'land  in  consick-rable  numbers."  Dr.  Coues  in  the  same  year 
contributed  an  important  paper,  containing  the  bibliography  and  synonymy 
of  tiie  species  to  date,  as  well  as  that  of  Baird's  Sparrow,  with  a  colored 
plate  of  the  latter.  The  year  1878  also  marked  the  appearance  of  the 
pm-t  of  Mr.  Maynard's  quarto  work  containing  a  wretclied  colored  plate 
of  '  Passcrculus  frinccps'  and  a  complete  account  of  the  species,  m  many 
respects  the  best  that  has  ever  been  published. 

In  the  following  year  appeared  Mr.  Jeffries's  sketch  of  the  b.rd  as 
observed  at  Swampscott,  Mass.,  chiefly  during  the  autumn  of  1878.  It  is 
an  important  contribution,  although  perhaps  a  little  too  dofr,.,atic  in  some 
of  its  statements  wliich  are  not  entirely  borne  out  by  the  facts.  An  argu- 
ment acrainst  the  specific  distinctness  of  frinccp  from  savanna  is  pre- 
sented." Unfortunately,  however,  the  measurements  given  do  not  show 
proper  cognizance  of  sex  in  making  comparisons,  nor  is  it  conclusively 
proved  that  intermediate  specimens  were  found.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the 
female  p-inccps  is  of  the  size  of  the  male  savanna,  while  the  male  frtnccfs 
is  considerably  larger.  In  1881  Mr.  Stearns's  work  on  New  England 
birds,  edited  by  Dr.  Coues,  was  published,  in  which  may  be  found  a  good 
review  of  the  bird's  history. 

By    1882,    the   Ipswich  Sparrow   began  to   be   considered    a   common 
species  in  New  England,  and  Mr.  N.  C.  Brown  thus  wrote  of  it:  "The 
once  prized  Ipswich  Sparrow  {Passcrculus  frirccp)  must    now  take  its 
place  among  the  common  n-^-mniil  migrants  of  southern  Maine,  though 
restricted,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  to  the  seacoast.     In  the  spring,  however, 
it  is  uncommon  if  not  rare.     Since  the  capture  of  the  first  Maine  specimen 
March  20,   1875,  I  have  seen  but  two  other  spring  specimens.     These  I 
found  upon  Old  Orchard  Beach,  March  28,  1882,  and  one  of  them  is  now 
in  my  collection.     In  their  autumnal  migration  the  birds  reach  Cumber- 
land County    about  Oct.   13,  remaining  at  least  until   Nov.  6,   later  than 
which    I    have    never  looked   for   them.     Upon   almost    any  day  between 
these  dates  the  collector  may  find  a  dozen  or  more  individuals  along  the 
sandy  shore  between    Scarborough   Beach  and  the   Saco  River."     (Bull. 
N    O.  C.  VII,  190.)     In   1883   Mr.  M.  Chamberlain  recorded  a  flock  of 
about  twenty  (a  number  far  exceeding  anything  ever  recorded  elsewhere) 
seen  on  April    11,  near  St.  John,  N.  B.     In    the  same  year  Mr.    H.  K. 
Job  wrote  that  "  Ipswich  Sparrows  can  at  last  be  ranked  almost  as  common 
birds  upon  our  seacoast  in  the  late  fall.     Last  year  I  saw  them  first  on 
October  28,  in  Boston  Harbor,  and  for  about  a  month  found  more  speci- 


•  See  Kod  and  Gun,  Vol.  VI,  p.  65  [=  p.  81]." 


THE   IPSWICH   Sl'ARROW.  JS 

mens  than  I  could  possibly  desire  to  shoot.     Tlie  main  body  leaves  us  late 
in  November,  but  stra<,'glers  are  occasionally  tbuiui  during  the  winter." 

Tlie  following  paragraph,  published  in  the  July,  1884,  number  of 'The 
Auk'  by  Mr.  R.  Ridgway,  has  been  productive  of  good  results:  "The 
National  Museum  possesses  a  considerable  series  of  eggs  labelled  'Ptisscr- 
cultts  savana,  Sil)le  Island,  Nova  Scotia,  July,  1862;  J.  P.  Dodd,'  which 
are  uniformly  so  much  larger  than  those  of  the  Savannah  Sparrow  as  to 
strongly  suggest  the  probability  that  they  may  be  in  reality  those  of  the 
Ipswich  Sparrow.  At  any  rate  the  matter  is  worth  investigating,  and  it  is 
hoped  that  some  reader  of  '  The  Auk  '  may  be  able  to  decide  the  question." 
Dr.  C.  II.  Merriam  promptly  followed  up  this  clue,  and  in  the  October 
number  of  the  same  journal  we  read:  "Acting  upon  the  above  suggestion 
I  immediately  wrote  to  the  Rev.  W.  A.  Des-Brisay,  a  resident  missionary 
of  Sable  Island,  requesting  him  to  send  me  a  specimen  of  the  common 
'  Gray  Bird '  of  the  Island.  This  he  was  kind  enough  to  do,  and  tlie 
specimen,  in  confirmation  of  Mr.  Ridgway's  suspicion,  proves  to  be  an 
unquestionable  Ipswich  Sparrow."  Here  the  matter  rested  for  the  next 
ten  years,  and  it  is  obvious  the  connection  between  the  eggs  and  tlie 
'  Gray  Bird '  was  not  established  without  leaving  a  margin  of  doubt. 

Meanwhile  'Passercnlus  frinceps'  became  'Ammodramus  frincefs'  \n 
1885,  was  "  relegated  to  the  commonplace"  on  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  by  Mr. 
Dutcher  in  1886,  and  its  southern  range  was  extended  to  Virginia  by  Dr. 
Rives  in  1890,  and  finally  to  Georgia  by  Mr.  Worlhington  in  the  same  year. 
Possible  breeding  grounds  have  been  visited  on  the  sandy  portions  of  the 
Magdalen  Islands  by  Mr.  Maynard,  Mr.  Cory  and  Dr.  Bishop ;  I  have 
sought  them  on  Prince  Edward  Island  and  the  adjacent  coasts  of  New 
Brmiswick  and  Nova  Scotia,  including  Cape  Breton  Island,  which  has 
also  been  visited  by  Messrs.  F.  II.  Allen,  F.  Bolles,  W.  Faxon,  and 
R.  IIofTman,  but  none  have  been  found.  Hence  it  becomes  extremely 
probable  that  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  is  an  island  species,  confined  to 
Sable  Island,  where  it  has  made  its  home  perhaps  for  centuries. 

Distribution  and  Migration. 

The  fact,  already  stated,  that  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  has  not  been  found 
breeding  at  any  favorable  locality  along  the  seacoast  of  Nova  Scotia,  New- 
foundland, or  Labrador,  nor  anywhere  on  the  shores  of  the  Gulf  of 
St.  Lawrence,  points  pretty  conclusively  to  the  probability  of  Sable  Island 
being  its  sole  breeding  ground.  It  may  therefore  be  considered  a  good 
example  of  an  island  species,  probably  related  at  one  time  to  the  Savanna 


-2  MEMOIRS   OF  TIIK    Nt    ITALI.   OKMTIJOLOGICAL   CLUB. 

Sparrow  of  the  mainland  by  ties  tl.at  cannot  now  be  traced.  During  the 
miLM-ations  it  is  otti-n  associa.od  with  the  Savanna  Sparrows,  hut  unhke 
them  it  is  strictly  littoral  by  habit.  Hut  two  instances  have  come  to  my 
knowledge  (disregarding  the  more  than  doubtful  records  from  Texas  and 
New  Hampshire),  where  the  bird  h  .s  been  captured  out  ol  hearmg  of  the 
surf,-one  ten  miles  inland  near  New  Haven.  Conn,  by  Dr.  B.shop 
(Auk,  VI,  1889,  p.  199),  and  one  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  by  Mr.  Charleg 

R.  Lamb.  .  .i    •       i    i„ 

Their  pallid  colors  arc  undoubtedly  due  to  environment,  as  their  whole 
life  is  spent  among  hillocks  of  bleached  and  drifted  sand.  E^en  rom  the 
most  verdure-clad  valleys  of  Sable  Island,  where  they  preferably  ab.de 
durin.r  the  breeding  season,  it  is  but  a  step  into  a  desert  and  although 
occasronallv  found  at  other  seasons  along  the  rocky  coasts  of  the  mainland, 
it  seems  probable  that  the  birds  only  visit  such  localities  as  they  pass  along 
in  migration.  A  few  brave  the  winters  of  their  island  home,  and  are  often 
seen  about  the  stations  when  the  ground  is  covered  with  snow,  feeding 
among  the  barnyard  fowls.  They  have  frequently  been  observed  to  all 
dead  xvhilo  flying,  and  tht-  children  have  attributed  their  death  to  the 
expansive  force  of  the  corn-meal  they  have  eaten  I 

Mr.  Boutilier  tells  me  the  '  Gray  Birds'  begin  to  diminish  in  numbers 
earlv    in    September,    and    it   is  probable    the  great  majority  leave  Sable 
Islaml  late  in  the  autumn,  scattering  southward  along  the  New  England 
shores.     Here  some  linger  through  the  winter,  b.-t  the  bulk  presses  farther 
south;  and  birds  have  been  found,  when  careful  search  has  been  made, 
even  as  far  south  as  Georgia,  where  two  have  been  taken  in  January  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Altamaha  River.     There  are  no  autumn  or  winter  records  for 
any  point  north  of  Portland,  Maine,  and,  it  may  be  added,  there  are  very 
few  sprin-r  records  for  New  Brunswick  or  Nova  Scotia.     The  birds  seem 
to  winter  chieflv  south  of  New  York  City,  and  are  reported  as  common  at 
Cobb's  Island,  Virginia,  but  observations  at  all  localities  are  usually  con- 
fined to  living  trips  made  to  the  seashore  by  the  enthusiastic  collector,  and 
consequently  the  distribution  and  migratory  movements  of  this  species  are 
even  now  imperfectly  understood.     They   appear  to  reach   Massachusetts 
(where  probablv  the  most  careful  observations  have  been  made)  with  one  of 
the  early    'cold  waves.'  pretty  regularly  from  the   middle  to  the  last  of 
October,  and  Long  Island,   New  York,   at  very  nearly  the  same  time  or 
perhaps  a  few  days  later.     For  a  month  or  more  they  may  be  abundant,  and 
after  that,  as  a  general  rule,  only  stragglers  can  be  found.        ^  ,     ^  ^     . 

On  their  return  northward  in  the  spring  they  reach  Long  Island  during 
March,  usually  the  last  two  weeks  or  a  little  earlier  if  the  weather  be 
mild,  and  loiterers  may  be  found  in  the  early  April  days.     In  Massachusetts 


THE  IPSWICH  SPARROW.  31 

they  pass  northward  hite  in  March  and  during  the  first  week  in  April. 
Tlicy  are  said  to  reappear  gradually  on  Sable  Island  in  the  month  of  May. 
Near  New  York  City  I  have  occasionally  seen,  in  March,  small  restless 
parties  of  five  or  six,  evidently  migrants,  as  well  as  numerous  single  birds, 
in  places  where  none  were  to  be  found  at  previous  visits  made  in  February. 
During  some  winters,  however,  a  good  many  may  be  found  on  Long 
Island,  as  is  borne  out  by  my  own  observations  and  those  of  others  who  have 
searched  for  them  ;  but  in  these  winters  a  considerable  influx  of  birds  is 
usually  perceptible  just  about  the  middle  of  March.  I  have  i.iken  speci- 
mens in  every  month  from  October  to  April,  and  others  have  done 
the  same  in  Massachusetts;  although  as  a  rule  mid-winter  specimens  even 
in  the  latitude  of  New  York  City  are  not  always  discoverable.  November 
and  March  are  the  months  when  the  greatest  number  of  birds  may  be  con- 
fidently expected,  and  a  dozen  or  more  may  sometimes  be  secured  in  a 
single  day.  Still  they  are  seldom  really  abundant,  and  are  usually  so 
scattered  over  large  areas  of  bleak  sand-hills,  that  each  specimen  in  one's 
collection  means  many  a  mile  trudged  through  yielding  sand  that  slips  from 
beneath  the  feet  at  every  step. 

Spring  specimens  usually  show  evidences  of  the  spring  moult,  which  is 
seldom  completed  (especially  about  the  head  and  eye-ring)  while  the  birds 
are  in  New  England.  The  fall  moult  is  accomplished  before  they  return, 
and  is  in  progress  during  August.  p'^'J;'n^g  from  some  skins  sent  me  from 
Sable  Island.  While  there,  I  learned  that  they  had  perceptibly  decreased 
in  numbers  in  recent  years,  and  were  possibly  not  more  than  one  tenth 
as  abundant  as  they  were  five  years  ago.  It  is  probable  that  their  natural 
enemies  already  alluded  to  are  responsible  for  this  decrease.  What  will  be 
their  fate  when  their  island  home  shall  have  been  entirely  submerged,  is  a 
question  for  future  observers  to  settle,  —  it  is  not  likely  to  be  one  of  our  day 
and  generation. 

Habits. 

While  the  birds  linger  in  their  winter  haunts  they  arc  apt  to  be  shy,  hiding 
away  singly  among  the  thicker  tufts  and  patches  of  the  brown  beach-grass 
that  is  so  characteristic  a  feature  of  the  sand-dunes.  We  all  of  us  know 
the  stiff,  sharp  points  of  this  grass  in  the  midst  of  each  tuft,  on  which  we 
carelessly  place  the  hand,  and  we  have  all  of  us  seen  the  magic  circles  traced 
in  the  sand  by  the  tips  of  the  drooping  blades  as  they  sway  in  the  breeze. 
Here  we  look  for  the  Sparrows,  and  perhaps  may  spy  one  scampering 
away  rapidly,  head  down,  in  and  out  among  the  tussocks.  Now  and  then  he 
stops  to  take  an  observation,  standing  up  very  straight  as  if  on  tiptoe  to  get 
a  better  view  of  you  through  the  slender  screen  of  grass-blades.    He  seldom 


34 


MEMOtRS  OK  TIIK   Nl'TTALK  ORNITIIOLfXJICAL  CLUB. 


ullowH  a  near  approacli,  and  pmsently  takes  winjj,  somt'limos  with  a 
siiijjli!  cliirp,  otU'iRT  living  silciilly  aiul  rapidly  Iniifj  distanci-s  before 
droppinji  to  tlic  jjioiind.  TIil-  moiir  actively  they  are  pursued,  the  wilder 
they  become  and  tlie  further  they  will  fly  each  time  they  are  flushed,  and 
the  fa  ler  they  seem  lo  run  from  tlie  spot  where  the  lireatldess  collector 
expects  to  lind  them,  'i'hey  often  permit  you  to  come  within  a  few  yards 
of  them  when  lirst  disturbed,  and  they  never  sprinj^  from  under  your 
very  feet,  prolvdily  l)ecause  they  start  to  run  away  the  moment  you  are 
observed  ;  but  after  once  llushinf»  them  it  is  by  no  means  certain  you  can 
put  tiiem  u[)  a  second  time;.  I  iiave  sometimes  seen  them  alijjiit  on  bushes 
or  trees  or  fences,  but  on  these  rare  occasions  they  iiave  generally  been 
with  flocks  of  S.ivanna  iind  otlier  Sparrows  not  far  from  treeless  wastes 
of  gently  rolling  sand-hills.  Sometimes  they  are  fcjund  on  salt  marshes, 
but  they  seem  much  to  prefer  dry,  open  sand-hillocks  well  covered  with 
grass,  or  the  depressions  among  them. 

On  Sable  Island,  as  might  be  expected,  Ihey  were  comparativel}'  tame, 
although  even  there  not  permitting  a  very  close  inspection.  They  watch 
you,  especially  when  singing  from  tlie  tops  of  the  sand-hills  or  the  bushes, 
with  evident  suspicion,  and  as  there  is  no  cover  the}'  are  not  easily  stalked. 
When  you  approach,  they  become  restless,  repeatedly  crouching  down  as 
if  about  to  lly,  bobbing  up  again,  and,  iinall}',  eitiier  slipping  ipiietly  down 
the  opposite  side  of  the  sand-hill,  or  more  frequently  standing  their  grountl 
until  you  are  within  a  few  yards.  Meanwhile  their  uncertainty  ol  mind  is 
voiced  by  occasional  sharp  chirps,  and  presently  they  suddenly  depart  with 
brisk,  undulating  flight,  following  the  ineciualities  of  the  ground  until 
hidden  by  a  distant  hill.  If  pursued  from  place  to  place,  they  soon 
become  very  wary  and  will  lly  until  tiiey  are  nearly  out  of  sight  before 
alighting. 

When  undisturbed  in  search  of  food,  they  walk  jauntily  about  on  the 
ground  or  over  the  shiny  green  carpet  of  Crowberry,  the  head  nodding  like 
a  pigeon's,  the  tail  raised  at  a  slight  angle  with  tlie  back.  They  indulge 
in  sundry  little  hops  and  flirtings  of  the  wings  and  tail  when  they  hasten 
their  steps  to  overtake  some  l'!,kless  insect,  but  their  every  movement  is 
delih«'rate  as  compared  with  the  racing  gait  with  which  we  associate 
them  when  on  our  own  seashore.  They  most  frequented  the  vicinity  of 
the  ponds,  and  abounded  towards  the  eastern  end  of  the  island  where  the 
hills  and  valleys  are  most  extensively  clothed  with  the  Crowberry  and  the 
Juniper,  in  the  many  snug  nooks  and  pockets  of  which  they  hide  away 
their  cosey  nests  or  lind  refuge  at  night  from  the  penetrating,  fog-laden  air. 
When  .«^een  against  this  dark  green  background  the  birds  looked  very 
pale,  while  contrasted  with  the  sand  over  which  they  ran   or  flew  they 


Tin:  irswjcii  sparrow.  35 

appeared  obviously  darker.  Tin;  fact  tliat  I  !<i'l(l<>m  loiiiul  tlu-in  on  ihf 
half-naked  sand-liill.s  iniglit  ar^rtie  a^rainst  their  pallid  colors,  hut  \vu 
must  remember  that  most  of  them  spend  only  u  small  part  of  their  lives 
amid  the  oases  of  Sable  Island. 

It  was  impossible  to  pry  much  into  their  domestic  affairs,  they  were  so 
relirinjj.  All  seemed  to  be  mated  at  the  time  of  my  arrival,  and  they 
appeared  to  take  life  very  (puetly.  The  demeanor  of  the  males,  when 
paying  court  to  their  admirin}^  mates,  was  larfrely  a  parade  of  bowings 
and  llutlerinjjs,  accomp.mied  by  a  low  murmurinj^  chirrupinjf.  Only 
once  did  I  actually  catch  the  males  quarrelling  amonj;  themselv -s ;  but 
towards  the  end  of  my  stay  I  secured  several  with  heads  so  tienu  led  of 
fialhers  tliat  it  was  evidently  not  a  ipieslion  of  wlietlier  they  had  bi'cn 
tightiu};,  but  of  how  much.  Very  little  solicitude  was  displayed  in  regard 
to  tJR'ir  nests.  Tiie  males  seem  to  give  notice  of  a  stranger's  approach. 
Your  attention  is  perhaps  attracted  by  mild  and  deliberate  ti:hij>!i  that 
proceed  from  a  bird  sitting  most  stolidly  on  a  clump  of  pigmy  rose-bushes, 
and  presently  he  is  mysteriously  joined  by  his  mate.  Both  will  continue 
to  ex|iostuiate  at  irregular  intervals,  seldom  shifting  their  positions,  though 
nervously  turning  this  way  and  that  as  long  as  you  remain  in  the  vicinity, 
and  they  are  very  polite  about  it  all  and  never  attempt  to  heap  upon  yr)u 
such  torrents  of  abuse  as  you  often  receive  at  the  hands  of  other  species. 
It  is  most  difficult  to  detect  the  females  leaving  the  neat,  unless  incubation 
is  considerably  advanced,  but  at  this  period  they  sit  very  closely  and, 
only  when  nearly  trodden  upon,  will  they  tlulter  away,  leigning  injury. 


Song. 

I  well  remember  the  first  mornmg  on  the  island.  The  sun  was  feebly 
struggli'ig  with  the  drifting  fog  that  dimly  revealed  the  treeless,  ragged 
sand-hiliotks  stretching  away  into  the  distance;  the  air  was  chill,  and  all 
about  me  were  strange  sights  and  sounds.  Amid  the  chorus  of  unfamiliar 
notes  I  soon  detected  those  for  which  I  had  travelled  far,  and  spied  an 
Ipswich  Sparrow  singing  away  on  an  adjacent  sand-peak,  (piite  unconscious 
of  the  sensation  he  was  creating.  Probably  none  of  the  songsters  afterwards 
heard  impressed  me  as  did  this  one,  for  the  song  was  one  of  the  many 
novelties  I  enjoyed  on  Sable  Island.  I  was  prepared  to  hear  a  song  on  the 
same  pattern  as  that  of  the  Savanna  Sparrow  —  nor  was  I  disappointed.  It 
was  gratifying  to  know  that  ilie  bird  really  could  sing,  for  it  is  one  of 
the  most  silent  of  our  winter  visitors,  its  sole  note  being  a  sharp,  dry  ix'q) 
uttcicd  on  rare  occasions.     Both  sexes  make  use  of  this  note  on   Sable 


36  MEMOIRS  OF  THE   NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

Island,  only  far  more  frequently.     It  is  an  everyday  salutation   there,  as 
much  as  to  say,  "  Here  I  am,  what  do  you  want,  eh?"     It  is  pitched  a  little 
lower  and  modified  to  a  /c/tiy*,  when  the  hirds  are  anxious  about  their  nesls, 
and  when  the  males  are  quarrelling,  or  paying  court  to  the  females,  it 
degenerates  into  a  rolling  chatter.     None  of  ihese  notes  are  loud,  and  the 
full  song  is  not  much  to  be  proud  of,  musically  considered ;   and  yet,  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  Savanna  Sparrow,  it  is  a  more  polislied  and  tuneful 
effort.     Those  who  know  the  song  of  this  bird  may  gain  some  idea  of  that 
of  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  when  I  say  that  the  song  oi priiiccps  is  keyed  a  little 
lower  and  finished  up  with  more  -  f  a  trill.     Analyzed,   it  consists  of  three 
parts,  and  usually  occupies  a  short  two  seconds  in   its  delivery.     It  begins 
with  two  or  three  rapid,  introductory  notes,  thin,  high-pitched,  and  slightly 
sibilant,    occupying   perhaps   one   quarter   of  the   entire   time ;    these   are 
followed  quickly  by  a  prolonged,  still  more  sibilant,  grasshopper-like  lisp, 
that  consumes  five  eighths  more  of  the  time,  and  the  song  concludes,  witii- 
out  pause,  in  a  trill  (keyed  very  like  the  note  of  the  little  tree-toad,  Hyla 
fickcringii),  on  the  first  part  of  which  considerable   emphasis  is  placed,- 
the  end  fading  out  with  interrogative  inflection.     Even  in  calm   weather, 
the  song  is  quite  inaudible  at  a  couple  of  hundred  yards,  but  the  trill,  brief 
as  it  is,  is  heard  further  than  any  other  part,  and  may  be  the  only  sound 
distinguishable.     As  you  draw  nearer,  the  sibilant  portion  is  heard,  while 
the  introductory  notes  may  not  be  audible  until  you  arrive  within  a  very 
few  yards.     A  graphical  representatio, .  of  the  song  would  be  something  as 
follows,  the  spaces  between  the  vertical  lines  representing  roughly  quarters 
of    a    second  :     ts'ip-  \  tslp-  |  fs  |  c'-  \  c- \  e-  \  e-  \  pr-re'-e-uh.      The    finishing 
trill  is  usually  swung  out  with  a  vi'.i,  unlike  the   weaker,  higher-pitched 
tinkle  of  A.  s   savanna,  and  contrasts  pleasantly  with  the  thin,  high  notes 
and  lisp  that  precede  it.     It  is  in  this  part  of  the  song  that  individual  singers 
vary   most,   differing  in    quality,  force    and  length  of  tone  not  only  from 
their  neighbors'   efforts,  but  sometimes  from  their    own.     On    the   whole, 
there  are  few  variations.     Sometimes  the  number  of  introductory  notes  is 
increased  or  diminished,  and  sometimes  the  trill  is  little  more  than  a  musi- 
cal ripple  and  like  an  overflow  of  the  sibilant  note.     This  sad  little  chant 
is  repeated  several  times  in  the  minute,   but  rarely  for  more  than  a  few 
minutes  at  a  time,  when  the  singer  either  seeks  a  new  perch  or  devotes  him- 
self for  an  indefinite  period  to  the  quest  for  food.     They  sing  at  irregular  inter- 
vals, the  favorite  hour  being  at  dusk,  when  you  may  often  hear  round  about 
you  as  many  as  five  or  si:-:,  each  pouring  forth  his  mournful  trill  which  seems 
in  perfect  keeping  with    the    sombre  surroundings.     They  are  also  more 
musically  inclined  in  the  early  morning  hours.     They  sang  regardless  of  the 
fog,  to  which  they  are  so  well  accustomed,  nor  did  they,  as  is  the  wont 


TIIK    IPSWICH    Sl'ARROW.  37 

of  many  birds,  greet  tlie  sun  as  it  now  and  again  pushed  aside  tlie  fog 
curtains  with  its  long  yellow  rays.  Bright  days  did  not  inspirit  them,  nor 
did  dull  ones  depress  them. 

The  fn-st  place  to  look  for  a  musician  is  along  the  sky  line  of  a  neigh- 
boring  sand-hill,  where  he  often  may  be  descried,  perched  a  few  inches  from 
the  ground  on  a  tuft  of  grass,  sometimes  on  the  bare  sand.  He  may  choose, 
however,  a  tiny  thicket,  a  turfy  hillock,  the  telephone  wires  or  poles,  or  a 
fence,  from  which  vantage  point  a  single  trill  may  be  all  that  is  vouchsafed, 
or  the  song  may  be  repeated  a  few  times.  Wrapped  in  my  coat,  I  have 
plodded  along,  so  shut  in  by  the  cold  sheets  of  streaming  fog  that  I  could  only 
liken  my  surroundings  to  the  sand-iiills  of  our  own  coast  during  a  winter's 
snowstorm,  and  have  listened  in  vain  for  .some  sign  of  the  presence  of  the 
Sparrows  that  I  felt  sure  were  in  my  vicinity.  Presently  one  is  discovered 
walking  about  on  the  ground  in  search  of  food,  and  a  few  minutes  later  he 
mounts  a  brown  hummock,  throws  back  his  head,  and  breaks  into  song. 
Others,  far  and  near,  promptly  join  in  chorus,  and  for  several  minutes  the 
air  fairly  rings  with  answering  songs.  Tlien  ensues  a  period  of  such 
perfect  silence,  ten,  fifteen,  twenty  minutes,  tha*  it  is  hard  to  believe  there 
is  a  single  bird  within  earshot.  If,  however,  you  will  have  patience,  the 
chorus  will  very  possibly  begin  again. 


Nest  and  Eggs. 

No  nest  of  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  had  hitherto  been  secured,  and  the 
identification  of  the  supposed  eggs  from  Sable  Island  in  the  National 
Museum  (see  Auk,  I,  1884,  292  and  39a)  had  rested  on  presumptive 
probability  rather  than  on  satisfactory  evidence.  With  these  facts  in  mind, 
I  devoted  much  time  to  the  search  for  nests  on  Sable  Island,  and  had  the 
pleasure  of  examining  nine  or  ten,  from  which  five  complete  sets  of  eggs 
were  obtained.  The  other  nests  were  cither  abandoned,  or  only  partly 
constructed  when  I  left.  On  my  arrival  I  was  told  that  the  '  Gray  Birds ' 
usually  began  to  lay  in  June.  It  soon  became  evident  that  some  were 
already  incubating,  and  in  view  of  the  past  season  being  considered  a 
backward  one  it  is  probable  that  in  average  seasons  many  of  the  sets  are 
completed  by  the  last  week  in  May.  On  June  2,  after  several  days' 
diligent  search,  I  found  the  first  nest ;  and  had  I  not  been  spying  into  all 
sorts  of  likely  and  unlikely  places  I  should  never  have  looked  in  upon  the 
three  fresh  eggs  it  contained.  As  I  afterwards  learned,  it  was  in  an 
unusual  situation,  being  placed  in  a  small  tuft  of  beach-grass  {Ammofhila 
arenaria  (L.)),  one  of  several  bordering  an  expanse  of  soft,  muddy  bog  at 


38  MEMOIRS   OK   TlIK    NUrrALL   ORNITHOLOGICAL   CLUB. 

the  foot  of  a  turf-coverccl  hillock,  brown  and  bare.  For  several  days  I 
visited  the  nest  repeatedly,  approaching  under  cover  of  the  hillock  with 
the  utmost  care,  only  to  fnul  that  the  bird  somehow  slipped  away  unob- 
served, leaving  the  eggs  warm  behind  her.  By  June  4  two  more  eggs 
had  been  added,  and  on  June  8  I  finally  secured  the  bird  and  set,  as  well 
as  an  indifTerent  Kodak  photograph  of  the  nest  in  situ. 

I    found   another  nest  on  June    2.     It  was   just   completed,   and   was 
placed  on  a  slope  where  a  cattle  path  had  left  a  projecting  edge  of  sod. 
There  was  almost  noliiing  to  conceal  tiie  nest,  and  it  is  possible  its  con- 
spicuousness  caused  its  abandonment  before  any  eggs  were  laid.     Another, 
found  by  Mr.  Mackay  eight  miles  down  tlie  island,  at '  No  3,'  was  reported 
the  same  day,  and  contained  four  eggs.     These  I  took  on  June  4,  obtaining 
a  Kodak   picture  of  them   as  they   lay  in  the  nest,   which   occupied   an 
unusual    site.     It   was  in   a  little   hollow  made   by  the   wind,  beneath    a 
short  bit  of  board  that  lay  on  a  flat  stretch  of  bare  sod  scantily  covering 
the  sand  beneath.     The   bird   was  flushed,   although    she  tried   to   skulk 
away  where  there  was  not  concealment  even  for  a  mouse.     Later  in  the 
day  I  reached  the  eastern  lighthouse,  near   which  I  was  shown  two  other 
nests,  with  four  eggs  eacii,  by  the  members  of  Mr.  Tobin's  family.     One 
was  embedded  in  a  bank  of  Crowberry   near  a  small  pond,  the  other  in  a 
clump  of  rosebushes.     The  last  set  I  obtained  was  on    June  11,  when  I 
almost  trod  upon  the  bird  as,  slipping  from  the    nest,  she  fluttered   away 
along  the  ground.     It  was  in  a  tiny  clump  of  budding  bushes  and  grass,  and 
contained  five  eggs,  probably  two    thirds  incubated.      Shortly  before  my 
departure    I  found  tlie  beg,  xnings  of  several  other  nests,  marked  by  the 
characteristic  little  cups  made  in  the  sand  by  the  birds,  in  some  of  which  a  few 
grass-blades  had  been  deposited.     One  was  in  the  midst  of  a  prairie  of  Juni- 
per, a  few  straws  straggling  from  beneath  an  upraised  spray  attracting  my 
attention  to  the  nest  in  the  depths  behnv.     All  the  nests  seem  to  be  carefully 
concealed,  and  there  is  so  much  ground  over  which  they  may  be  scattered  that 
it  is  no  easy  matter  to   secure   them.     I  am  told   that  the   more    favored 
nesting  sites  are  steep,  grassy  slopes,  terraced  often  by  zigzagging  cattle 
paths,    where    ample    protection   is   afforded    behind   the   lattice-work   of 
bleached  and  storm-matted  grasses.     Everywhere  the  trailing  stems  of  the 
Crowberry  and  Juniper  lend  a  canopy  for  nests  that  sometimes  repose  in 
beds  of  mosses  and   lichens,  or  the  edge  of  some  dense   little   clump  of 
bushes  is  chosen. 

No  matter  where  situated,  each  nest  is  placed  in  a  cup-shaped  hollow 
about  four  inches  in  diameter  and  fully  two  in  depth,  scratched  in  the  sand 
by  the  birds.  It  is  compactly  woven,  and  well  calculated  to  keep  out  the 
icy  atmosphere  that  so  often  prevails  on  Sable  Island  even  on  midsummer 


THE  IPSWICH  SPARROW.  39 

days      It   is  a  mach    more   pretentious   affair   than   that   c(  the  Savanna 
Snarrosv,  and  has  the  efTect  of  a  nest  built  of  :-.ay  and  stubble,  lined  with 
paler,  finer  straw.     There  are  two  disdnct  parts,  an  outer  shell  of  coarse 
materials  that  are  disposed  like  a  rim,  and  a.i  inner  cup  of  closely  woven, 
slender  grasses.     The  little  basin  first  excavated  by  the  bu'ds  is  filled  in  at 
the  sides  and  around  the    margin  with  dead  weed  stalks,  various   coarse 
grasses  and  sedges,  bits  of  moss,  or  similar  materials.     Those  form  a  shell 
rising  about  an  inch  above  the  surface  of  the  sand  and  straggling  out  over 
it  for  an  inch  or   two.     The   shell  is  lined    almost  wliolly  with  the    finer 
bleached  blades  of  an  unidentifiable  species  of  Cairx,  a  few  wiry  horse- 
hairs, or  tufts  from  the  shaggy  ponies  or  cattle,   being  sometimes  added. 
The  lining  is  circularly  disposed,  and  smoothed  down  as  only  a  bird  can 
do  it,  leaving  between  the  eggs  and  the  sand  beneath   an  inch,  more  or 
less,  of  closely  woven  grass,  while  higher  up  the  walls  are  considerably 
thicker  on  account  of  the  added  outer  shell. 

Until  it  was  proved  that  no  Savanna  Sparrow  bred  on  Sable  Island,  the 
•Gray  Birds' '  eggs  collected  in  1862  (before  the  species  was  discovered), 
and    now   in    the  National    Museum,  were  open  to  doubt.     I  have  in   my 
possession  a  set  of  savanna  that  is  absolutely  indistinguishable    in  every 
particular  from  one  of  the  sets  of  pniiccp  now  before  me.     To  misuse  a 
term,    I    might   say    that   the  eggs   intergrade ;    and  we  should   naturally 
expect  northern-breeding  savanna  to  lay  even  larger  eggs  than  those   of 
this    set.     However,    I    now    have    before     me    five    authentic     sets     of 
Ammodramus  princess,  two  with  five  eggs,  and  three  with   four,   making 
twenty-two  eggs  in  all,  from  which  I  derive  the  following  measurements  :— 
Average  size,  21.6  mm.  (.85  in.)  X  15.5  mm.  (.61  in.). 
Extremes  of 'ength,  23.1  mm.  (.91  in.)  to  20.3  mm. (.80  in.). 
Extremes  of  diameter,  15.7  mm.  (.62  in.)  to  15.2  mm.  (.60  in.). 
They  average  a  little  larger  than  the  eggs  of  A.  s.  savanna,  from  which 
they  are  otherwise  indistinguishable,  and  they  resemble  the  eggs  of  several 
other   Sparrows.     The  ground    color  is  bluish  or  grayish  white,  often  so 
washed  with  brown  as  to  appear  olive  brown,  and  usually  so  splashed  and 
sprinkled  with  diflerent  shades  of  umber  and  vandyke  brown  as  almost  to 
conceal  the  color  of  the  shell.     Tiiere  are  also  purp'ish  and  grayish  brown 
markings  that  are  less  apparent  on  most  of  the  eggs  than  are  the  bolder 
blotches  of  the  deeper  browns  that  in  the  majority  of  cases  aggregate  about 
the  larger  end  and  form  there  a  ring.     A  good  many  of  the  eggs  have  besides 
a  few  irregular  hair  lines  (as  if  done  with  a  pen)  of  deep  brown.     The  eggs 
of  the  same  set  will  vary  much  in  coloration,  and  several  very  brown  and 
slishtly  spotted  eggs  may  be  associated  with  a  bluish    blotched  egg  that 
looks  as  if  it  belonged  to  some  other  set.     The  shape  is  usually  ovate,  but 
in  one  set  the  eggs  are  long  and  slender. 


40  MEMOIRS  OP'  THE   NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

The  nests  are  often  found  by  the  people  on  Sable  Island,  and  they  tell 
me  four  is  the  usual  number  of  eggs  in  a  set,  although  sometimes  five  are 
laid.  The  data  and  measurements  of  the  nests  and  eggs  I  secured  are  as 
follows : — 

Nest  A. — Salile  Island,  N.  S.,  June  4,  1894. 

Bg-gs—foin,  nearly  fresh,  21.6  x  15.2,  21.8  x  i5-7.   21.0  X  15.2,21.8 

X  15.5   mm. 

_/Vi-s/ _  outside  depth  89;  outside  diameter   127  ;  inside  depth  46;  inside 

diameter  57  mm. 

Materials — coarse  weather-stained  grasses  and  a  little  eel-grass;  lined 
with  the  bleached  and  delicate  blades  of  a  sedge  (Carcx). 

^//c  — beneath  a  bit  of  board  on  a  flat  stretch  of  turf,  on  shore  of  salt- 
water lagoon.     The  turf  was  sandy,  and  the  grass  very  short. 

Nest  B.  —  Sable  Island,  N.  S.,  June  4,  1894. 

^^^_four,  slightly  incubated,  21.3  x  15.2,  21.0  X  15.2,  20.6  x  iS-2, 
21.8  X  15.8. 

7V^<;5/ _  outside  depth  57  ;  outside  diameter   121  ;  inside   depth  41  ;   inside 

diameter  57. 

Materials  — codirse  grass,  weed  stems,  and  a  little  green  moss;  lined 
with  the  pale  slender  blades  of  a  sedge. 

Site  — in  the  midst  of  a  clump  of  Crowberry  on  a  slope  near  a  fresh- 
water pond. 

Nest  C. —Sable  Island,  N.  S.,  June  4,  1894. 

^j^^j  _  four,  slightly  incubated,  21.6  x  15.8,  21.8  x  15.5,  22.3  x  15.8, 

ao.6  X  15.5. 

iVw/  — outside  depth  76;  outside  diameter  121  ;  inside  depth  45  ;  inside 

diameter  57. 

Materials  — coarse  beach-grass,  other  dark,  weather-stained  grasses, 
stalks  of  everlasting  and  other  weeds,  and  bits  of  green  moss ;  lined  with 
fine,  bleached  sedge,  a  few  horse-hairs,  and  bunches  of  a  softer  hair,  prob- 
ably from  cattle. 

Site  —  in  a  thicket  of  rose  bushes  on  d     ,  hummocky  ground. 

Nest  D.— Sable  Island,  N.  S.,  June  8,  1894. 

Bggs  — five,  slightly  incubated,  23.1  x  15.2,  22.9  x  15.2,  22.6  X  15.2, 
23.1  X  15.5,  22.9  X  15.2. 


THE   IPSWTCII   SPARROW.  4I 

iVirs/  — outside  depth   76;  outside  diameter  114;  inside  depth  51  ;  inside 

diameter  51.  ,     •  . 

Materials  —  dead  grass  and  weed  stems  and  a  little  green  moss  ;  hned  with 

fine  sedge  and  a  few  horse-hairs. 

Site  — in  tuft  of  dead  beach-grass  on  the  boggy  margin  of  a  small  pond. 
The  grass  arched  over  it. 

Nest  E.— Sable  Island,  N.  S.,  June  11,  1894. 

^^j5-5  — five,  much  incubated,  20.6  x  15.8,  20.6  X  15.2,  20.3  x  15.5, 
20.6  x'iS-8,  20.8  X  15.8.  . 

iVi;.s/— outside  depth  64;  oatside  diameter  102  ;   inside  depth  45  ;  inside 

diameter  64.  ^      ,  ,      r 

Materials  — AcaA  weed  stalks  ;  lined  with  fine  blades  of  sedge  and  a  few 

horse-hairs.  .      ,     -u    1     j 

Site  — in  hummock  of  blueberry  bushes  and  rose  bushes  mixed  witli  dead 

grass  and  growing  sorrel. 

Nest  F.— Sable  Island,  N.  S.,  June  11,  1894. 

Nest  (deserted)  —outside  depth  70;  outside  diameter  102  ;  inside  depth 
45  ;  inside  diameter  64. 

Materials— cos^rse,  dead  grasses  and  weed  stems  ;  lined  with  fine  blades 
of  a  sedge  and  some  bits  of  soft  hair. 

6"//^  —under  edge  of  sod,  on  a  sloping  bank. 


Food. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  for  the  results  of  the 
examination  of  the  contents  of  fifty-six  stomachs,  all,  save  thirteen,  of  my 
own  collecting.     A  summary  of  this  material  is  as  follows  :  — 

Animal       Vegetable         Gravel,  etc. 
matter,  %    matter,  %      {chiefly  sand),  % 
19  summer  specimens  from  Sable  Isl.ind,  N.  S.,     75.5  15-2  9-3 

37  winter  specimens  from  Long  Island,  N.  Y., 

and  New  Jersey,  7-3  S7-8  34-9 

The  large  percentage  of  animal  matter  (insects  chiefly)  in  the  summer 
food  of  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  is  in  striking  contrast  to  the  winter  deficiency. 
Twenty-four  of  the  winter  specimens  contained  no  animal  matter  at  all,  or 


42  MEMOIRS   OK  TIIK   NUTTAKL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

only  a  trace,  and  the  increase  of  gravel  and  sand  in  the  winter  food  is  no 
doubt  necessary  in  grinding  up  the  largely  increased  percentage  of  seeds. 

Mr.  F.  E.  L.  Heal  of  the  Department  has  identified,  among  the 
various  fragments  found  in  the  stomachs  of  the  summer  specimens 
from  Sal)le  Island,  the  following  :  Beetles  and  their  larva;,  represented  by 
scarabicids  {Afhodmsfmcntarius  identified),  carabids,  elaterids,  cicindelids, 
and  weevils  ;  caterpillars,  as  well  as  puprc  and  pupa-cases  ;  grasshoppers  ;  ants 
(including  one  pupa),  and  other  iiymenoptera  ;  hemiptera  ;  diptera  ;  spiders 
(also  eggs  and  coccons)  ;  snails;  seeds,  herbage,  and  rubbish,  unrecogniz- 
able, except  seeds  or  granules  o( Myrica  ceri/cra,  Coriitis  cauadftisis,  Rumex 
acctosclla,  and  Vacciiiium  sp.?  ;  bits  of  shell  and  shells  of  bivalve  molluscs 
probably  swallowed  with  tlu-  sand  and  gravel. 

The  winter  diet  appears  to  consist  largely  of  the  seeds  and  hulls  of  an 
unrecognizable  grass,  together  with  several  other  unknown  seeds,  as  well 
as  C/tci/of(>(l/u>n  Kp.?,  Brag-rosi/s  sp.?,  Polygonum  articulatum  and  rye. 
Tiie  animal  food  in  winter  consists  of  beetles,  among  them  scarabieids 
(represented  hy A fhodius  inqtiinalus  and  A/>/ioJius _^mcniarius  {prohab\y)), 
andweeviU;  caterpillars  and  their  cocoons  ;  hymenoptera  (including  some 
ants)  ;  diptera  ;  spiders'  cocoons  ;  snails.  The  rest  of  the  stomach  contents  in 
winter  is  made  up  of  the  usual  sand  and  gravel  which  sometimes  is  mingled 
with  cinders  or  slag  and  bits  of  coal. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

i8i;8.  Gii.i'iN,  John  liERNARO.  Sable  Island:  its  Past  History,  rresenl  Appearance, 
Natural  History,  &c.,  &c.,  a  lecture,  by  J.  licrnard  C.ilpin,  H.  A.,  M.  !)., 
M.  R.  C.S.  Also,  a  Description  of  the  Shipwreck  of  the  American 
Schooner  Arno,  lost  on  the  Island  September  19,  1846.  By  Joseph 
Darby,  V.sq.,  Superintendent  of  the  Island.  And  a  I'oem  on  the  same 
Subject,  by  the  Honorable  Joseph  Howe,  M.  P.  P.  All  Delivered  before 
the  Athenamm  Society,  February,  1858.  Halifax:  Printed  at  the  Wes- 
leyan  Conference   Steam  Press,   1858.     iimo.  pamph.,  p.  17. 

lliirdly  citable,  but  of  interest  as  probably  containing  tlie  first  puljlishud  reference  to 
the  Ipswicli  Sparrow,  allhough  the  species  was  not  recognized  as  a  new  one  until  many 
years  later.     The  reference  reads  as  follows  :  "A  little  brown  Sparrow,  (  Kringilla  ), 

also  summered  and  wintered  there." 

1869.  Maynard,  Charles  Johnson.  The  Capture  of  the  Centronyx  Bairdii  at 
Ipswich.  — Amer.  Nat.  Ill,  p.  SSI- 

The  single  specimen  taken  December  4,  1868,  and  here  recorded,  was  later  recognized 
•    •        •       ■  '  ' " ■■■    ' of    Ammoitiamus  f^riiueps.       Cf. 


as  belonging  to  a  new  species,  and  became   the   type 
Coues,  3d  instal.  bibliog.,  Hull.  U.  S.  Surv.  Terr.  V,  if 


879,  no.  .),  p.  637,  1880. 

1869-70.  Allen,  Joel  Asaph.  Notes  on  some  of  the  Rarer  Birds  of  Massachu- 
setts.—Amer.  Nat.  Ill,  pp.  513,  631,  632. 

Also,   1869,   pamphlet,   repat^'Kl,  pp.   9.  3^-34-     A   more  extended  notice   than    Mi. 
Maynard's  upon  the  capture  of  the  supposed  Centronyx  bairdii. 

1870.  Maynaud,  Charles  Johnson.  The  Naturalist's  Guide  in  collecting  and  pre- 
serving objects  of  natural  history,  with  a  complete  catalogue  of  the  liiids 
of  Eastern  Massachusetts.  By  C.  J.  Maynard.  With  illustrations  by 
E.  L.  Weeks.  Boston:  Fields,  O.sgood,  &  Co.  1870.  lamo.  Part  II. 
Catalogue  of  the  Birds  of  Eastern  Massachusetts  with  notes  relative  to 
their  migration,  habits,  etc.,  etc.     pp.  1 12-1 17. 

An  original  description  with  a  frontispiece  of  the  type  specimen  of  AmmoJnimiis 
priiuef's,  the  discoverer,   however,  supposing  he   was   redescribing    Cailroiiyx   bairdii. 

-  .  There  is  also  a  pen-picture  of  the  Ipswich  sand-hills  and  an   account  of  the  capture  of 

the  Sparrow.  . 

1877,  revised  edition,  pp.  1 12-117.  The  original  article  is  rewritten  in  part,  explana- 
tions are  made,  a  hand-colored  plate,  facing  p.  89,  is  substituted  foi-  the  \  oodcut,  and 
the  species  is  correctly  named. 

1870.  Samuels,  Edward  Aur.usrus.  The  Birds  of  New  England  and  Adjacent 
States :  containing  Descriptions  of  the  Birds  of  New  England,  and  adjoining 
States  and  Provinces,  arranged  by  a  long-approved  Classitkation  and 
Nomenclature;  together  with  a  History  of  their  Habits,  Times  of  Ar- 
rival and  Departure,  their  Distribution,  Food,  Son(^.  Time  of  Breeding, 
.:  and  a  careful  and  accurate  Description  of  their  Nests  and  Eggs;  with 
Illustrations  of  many  Species  of  the  Birds,  and  accurate  Figures  of 
their  Eggs.     By  Edward  A.  Samuels,  Curator  of  Zoology  in  the  Massa- 


44  MEMOIRS  Ol-  TlIK   NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

chusctts  State  Cabinet.  With  an  Appendix  containing  supplementary 
Notes.  Fifth  Kdition,  revised  and  enlarged,  lioston;  Noyes,  Holmes 
and  Company,  117  Washington  Street.  1870.     8vo.  p.  581. 

Tilt;  lirsi  edition  of  this  hydr.i  huaik-d  woik  that  contains  an  appendix,  in  which  under 
'Centronyx  lUiirJii'  appears  mention  of  the  cai)ture  of  Mr.  Maynard's  buppo.sed  .speci- 
men.    .\  relilled  edition,  as  late  as  l88j,  dues  not  revise  the  record ! 

1872.     Kkkwstkr,  William.     Birds   New   to  Massachusetts    Fauna.  — Amcr.    Nat. 

VI.  p-  307-  ,     ,     ,.  , 

Records  capture  by  Mr.  Maynard,  at  Ip.swich,  of  a  second  .and  a  third  specimen  of 
the  supposed  Ccnironyx  lUiirJii. 

187-  CouES,  Elliott.  Key  to  North  American  Birds  containing  a  concise 
account  of  every  species  of  Living  and  Fossil  Bird  at  present  known 
from  the  continent  north  of  the  Mexican  and  United  States  boundary. 
Illustrated  by  6  steel  plates,  and  upwards  of  250  woodcuts.  By  Elliott 
Coues,  Assistant  Surgeon  United  St.-.tes  Army.  Salem:  Naturali.sts 
Agency.  New  York ;  Dodd  and  Mead.  Boston :  Estes  and  Lauriat. 
1872.  Imp.  8vo.  pp.  135  and  352. 
In  the  appendix  due  credit  is  given  Mr.  Maynard  for  the  newly  recognized  Passercu- 

Ills  priiuchs.  1      1      00         J    ..1 

1S84,  2d  edition,  an  extended  description  at  pp.  361,  362;  the  3d  ed.,  1887,  and  4th 
cd.,  1890,  are  jirinted  from  tlie  same  plates,  and  appendices  are  added. 

1872.  Maynard,  Charles  Johnson.     A  New  Species  of  Passerculus  from  Eastern 

Massachusetts.—  Amer.  Nat.  VI,  pp.  637,  638. 

'llie  three  known  specimens  are  at  last  recognized  as  belonging  to  a  new  species 
which  is  named /■,u.OTr«/«J/W«a/J.  Cf.  Zoologic.-il  Record  for  1872,  p.  51,  1874,  and 
Cones,  3d  instal.  bibliog.,  Hull.  U.  S.  Surv.  Terr.  1879,  V,  no.  4,  p.  638,  1880. 

1873.  CoUES,  Elliott.     Notes   on   Two   little-known    Birds   of  the  United  States. 

—  Amer.  Nat.  v'll,  p.  696. 

The  birds  are  Centroiiyx  bairJii  and  Aiithiis  spmgnci,  with  references  to  the  supposed 
Massachusetts  specimens  of  the  former  species. 

1873.  CouEs,  Elliott.     A  Check-List  of  North  American  Birds.     By  Elliott  Coues 

Salem:  Naturalists'  Agency.  1873.     8vo.  pamph.,  p.  31. 

Also  issued  as  the  second  part  of  '  Field  Ornithology,'  etc.,  1874,  q.  v.  We  find  here 
the  name 'Maynard's  .Sp.irrow.'  ,.      u 

1S82,  2d  edition,  is  far  more  pretentious,  and  '  Ipswich  Savanna  Sparrow  is  the 
name  bestowed  at  p.  52. 

1874  Baird,  Si'ENCER  Fullerton,  Brewer,  Thomas  Mavo,  and  Ridgwav,  Rob- 
ert. A  History  of  North  American  Birds  by  S.  F.  Baird,  T.  M.  Brewer 
and  R.  Ridgway  Land  Birds  Illustrated  by  64  colored  plates  and  593 
woodcuts  Volume  I.  [Vignette]  Boston  Little,  Brown  and  Company 
1874.     Sm.  4to.     Vol.  I,  pp.  533  and  540-542,  pl-  25.  f-  2- 

This  history  is  founded  on  the  three  known  specimens.  Twice  in  the  text  the  name 
'/'.  mayitardi'  is  made  use  of,  no  doubt  inadvertently. 

1874.  CouEs,  Elliott.     Field  Ornithology.     Comprising  a  Manual  of  Instruction 

for  procuring,  preparing  and  preserving  Birds,  and  a  Check-List  of  North 
American  Birds.  By  Dr.  Elliott  Coues,  U.  S.  A.  [Monogram]  Salem  : 
Naturalists'  Agency.  Boston:  Estes  &  Lauriat.  New  York:  Dodd  & 
Mead.  1874.     8vo. 

At  p.  31  of  the  Check-List,  which  was  originally  issued  as  a  separate  pamphlet  in 
1873,  q.v. 


TIIK   ll'SWICIl    SPARROW.  45 

187  s  Hrewkr.  Thomas  Mayo.  CataloRue  of  the  Birds  of  New  Kngland  with 
brief  notes  imlicatinj,'  the  manner  and  character  of  their  presence  ;  with  a 
list  of  species  included  in  previous  catalo};ues  believed  to  have  been 
wrongly  classed  as  llirds  of  New  Kngland.  —  I'roc.  Host.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist., 

XVII,   p.  44t- 

Also  1875,  pamphk-t,  repaged,  p.  8.    The  IpHwlch  Sparrow  a  designated  as  "  migratory, 
rare." 

1875.  Hkown,  Nathan  CLiiioi<n.      Ornithological  Notes  from  I'ortland,  Maine.— 

Rod  and  Gun,  VI,  May  8,  p.  81. 
First  record  for  Maine. 

1876.  Brewster,  William.     On  the  occurrence  of  certain  Birds  in  the  New  Eng- 

land States.  —  Bull.  Nuttall  Ornith.  Club,  I,  p.  18. 

1876.  Brewster,  William.  The  Ipswich  Sparrow  in  New  Hrunswick.  -  Hull.  Nut- 
tall  Ornith.  Club,  I.  p.  52. 

First  record  for  Now  IJnmswick  (I't.  I.upruaux).     C/.  Zoological    Record  for  1876,  p. 
49,  1878,  and  Coues,  3d  instal.  l.ibliog.,  lUdl.  U.  S.  Snrv.  Terr.  1879.  V,  no.  .(,  p.  641,  1880. 

1876  Jordan,  Davii)  Starr.  Manual  of  the  Vertebrates  of  the  Northern  United 
States,  incluQ'ng  the  District  east  of  the  Mississippi  River,  and  north 
of  North  Carolina  and  Tennessee,  exclusive  of  marine  species.  By 
David  Starr  Jordan,  M.  S.,  M.  D.  Professor  of  Natural  History  in 
N.  W.  C.  University,  and  in  Indi.ana  State  Medical  College.  Chicago: 
Jansen,  McClurg  &  Company.      1876,  i2mo.  p.  84. 

1878.     2d  edition,  p.  84.     Changes  made  do  not  affect  the  birds. 

1880.     3d  edition,  p.  84. 

1884.     4th  edition,  p.  84. 

1888.     Sth  edition,  p.  286.— Complete  revision  of  this  work. 

1876.  Merkiam,  Clinton  Hart.     Passerculus  princeps  and   Parus  hudsonicus  in 

Connecticut.— Bull.  Nuttall  Ornith.  Club,  I,  p.  52. 

First  record  for  Connecticut.     C/.  Zoological  Record  for  1876,  p.  49.  "S?**-  a'"'  <'""™. 
Kirds  of  the  Colorado  Valley  (Hiljliographical  Appendi.x),  p.  726,  1S78. 

1877.  Bailev,  Harry  Balcii.     Occurrence  of  Passerculus  princeps  in  New  York.— 

Bull.  Nuttall  Ornith.  Club,  II,  pp.  78,  79. 

First  record  for  New  York.     C/.  Coues,  jd  instal.  bibliog.,  Dull.   U.  .S.  .Surv.  'l^err., 
1879,  V,  no.  4,  p.  642<  '880. 

1877.  Brown,  Nathan  CLiKFORn.  Notes  on  Birds  new  to  the  Fauna  of  Maine, 
etc.— Bull.  Nuttall  Ornith.  Club,  II,  pp.  27,  28. 

A  doubtful  record  for  New  Hampshire  (Lake  Umbagog),  as  the  bird  unfortunately 
could  not  be  secured. 

1877.  GiEDEL,  Christoph  Gottfried  (Aniireas).  Thesaurus  Ornithologiie. 
Repertorium  der  gesammlen  ornithologischen  Literatur  und  Nomen- 
clator  siimtlicher  Gattungen  und  Arten  der  Vogel  nebst  Synonymen  und 
geographischer  Verbreitung.  Von  Dr.  C.  G.  Giebel,  Professor  der  Zoo- 
logie  und  Director  des  zoologischen  Museums  der  Universitiit  in  Halle. 
Dritter  Band.  [Colophon]  Leipzig:  V.  A.  Brockhaus.  1877.  8vo.  pp.  38 
and  772. 

It  is  stated  that  rasscrciiliish  a  syiionym  of  Zonotrkhia,  and  that  "  Passerculus  prin- 
ceps —  Zonotrichia  princeps" 


aA  memoirs  ok  tiik  nuttall  ornithologicai.  cluh. 

1877.     Mavnaki),  CiiARi.t-s  Johnson.    The  Naturalist's  Guide,  &c.     2d  cd. 
Cf.  i»l  c(l-  1S70. 

,877  Mkkkiam,  Cmniun  Hakt.  A  Roviuw  of  the  liirds  of  Connecticut,  with 
Remarks  on  their  Habits.  Trans.  Conn.  .\cad.  Sci.  and  Arts,  IV, 
pt.  ii,  p.  36. 

,877      MiNor.  Henrv  Davis.     The  I.and  Hirds  and  Oamc-Uirds  of  New  England 

with  Descriptions  of  the   liirds,  their  Nests  and   K-gs,  their  I  al.its  and 

Notes.     With  llhistrations.     liy  II.  D.  Minot.     [(^'li'l'""]   •"'•''^''n'  '^•^'*^' 

Naturalists'  Af^ency.  Hoston :  Kstes  &  Lauriat.   1877.     8vo.  pp.  i95-»97- 

('hitfly  i|iif)lations  from  Maynard,  no  new  facts  are  presented. 

1878.  Ai.i.K.N,  Juki,  Asaph.  A  list  of  the  Birds  of  Massachusetts,  with  Annota- 
tions. —  Hull.  Kssex  Inst.,  X,  p.  16. 

,878  IJRK.WK.R,  Thomas  Mavo.  Notes  on  Certain  Species  of  New  Kngland  Birds 
with  additions  to  his  Cataloj^ue  of  the  Birds  of  New.  Kngland.  —  I'roc. 
Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.  XIX,  p.  305. 

1878.  Comes,  Ki.i.ioTT.  Nolc  on  J'asserai/us  tairifH  am\  P.  pniiceps. —  WuW.  Nuttall 
Ornith.  Club,  III,  pp.  1-3. 

Contains  synonymy  and  bibUoi-raphy  of  bolli  spucius,  loKethtT  with  a  c.loieil  platu 
of  /'.  /«/>,///.  cr  Ibis,  11,  p.  "A  '«?«  ;  Zoolo^ischer  An/.tiKur,  I.  p.  355.  ''VS  ;..  oues 
%\  inslal.  hibliog.  Hull.  U.  S.  Snrv.  Turr..  .879.  V.  no.  .,,  p.  (i,j,  .SSo;  /oolog.cal 
kccordfor  1878,  p.  50,  1880;  fout-s,  Chuck-List,  p.  iTx),  1882. 

,878.  Lawrence,  NE\vnoi,i>  'I'uoi  tek.  Notes  on  Several  Rare  Birds  taken  on  Long 
Island,  N.  Y.  —  Forest  and  Stream,  X,  May  2,  p.  235. 

l.ive  specimens  taken  at  far  Uockaway,  December  .870  N'-^^^''^^ '«7%.''f  ^T"''"' 
,872,  November,  187.,,  and  January,  1S78.  C/.  liailey's  Index  to  \'.k  S.  Ilird  Notes, 
p.  1 10,  1881. 

,878  Lawrence,  Newdoi.i.  Tuotiek.  The  Ipswich  Sparrow  {r.issemtlus pniiceps) 
on  Long  Island,  N.  Y.  —  Bull.  Nuttall  Ornith.  Club,  III,  p.  102. 

Repetition  of  the  orininal  record  (see  previous  title).  C/.  Coues,  jd  instal.  bibliog., 
Hull.  U.  S.  .Snrv.  Terr.  1879,  V,  no.  4,  p.  644,  1880. 

1878.  Mavnaki),  Charles  Johnson.  The  Birds  of  Florida  with  the  Water  and 
Game  Birds  of  F.astern  North  America,  by  C.  J.  Maynard.  Illustrated. 
C.  A.  Walker,  Boston.  C.  J.  Maynard  &  Co.,  Newtonville,  Mass. 
1878.     4to.      part  iv,  pp.  loi,  102. 

One  of  the  most  comiilule  accounts  of  the  species  ever  piddishud.  C/.  ItuU.  Nuttall 
Ornith.  Club,  111,  p.  .15.  ■>^view  by  J.  A.  A  [lien],  ,878 ;  Cues  li.rds  of  the  *- o^^^' " 
Valley  (liibliographical  Appendix),  p.  693,  1S7S  ;  .Maynard,  1  ho  liuds  of  Kastern  North 
America,  etc.,  i88l. 

1878.     [Smith.sonian  report  for  1877.] 

Among  list  of  donations  for  1S77  is  one  skin  of  •'  Passtrailus  princeps"  from  Massa- 
chusetts, from  Mr.  C.  J.  Maynard. 

1870.     Brewer,  Thomas  Mavo.     Some  additional  notes  upon  Birds  observed  in  New 
Kngland  with  the  names  of  five  species  not  included  in  his  previous  Lists 
of  New  England  Birds.— Proc.  Bost.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.  XX,  pp.  270,  271. 
Chiefly  references  to  Mr.  Jeffries's  p.aper. 


TIIK   IPSVVICtI   SPARROW.  47 

1879.     liKowv,  Nathan  Clifford.     IJcachllirils.  —  Lippincott's  Mag.  XXIII,  May, 
622. 

Ilricf  remarks  on,  and  unrecognizable  cut  of, '  Paturculut  primtfi.' 

1870      JKKKRIKS,  VVri.i.iAM  AirciusTUS.     'I'h.'  Ipswich  Sparrow  {I'iUsercului  princeps, 
Maynard).  —  Hull.  Nuttall  Ornitli.  Clul),  IV,  103    106. 

A  vatiiaML'  cimlrilmliim  tr)  the  «\il)ji;i:l.  coiituiniiiK  iil)»erv:iti<m-i  ii|>(in  .1  \m%k  niinil.cr 
iif  spuoimciis  and  disciissicii  of  Ihu  lul.iti.Mi  of  tlic  spcdui  lo  ill.;  S.u.iMn,i  Sjiarrow.  (/. 
ZooloKUchcT  An/tiKtr,  ll,|..  J17.  i!*?';:  ZoologUdiur  Jahre.-I.en,  l,i  fUr  i.S?;;,  |..  M  5«, 
1880;  ZoohiKkal  Ruconl  for  1S79,  p.  54;  Couch,  .1.1  iiwtal.  bibllog,,  Hull.  U.  S.  Surv. 
Terr.  1879,  V,  no.  4,  p.  O45,  1S80. 

i88o.     Aim.jTT,    VVii.i.iAM  L.    rasserculus   princeps   in    New  Jersey.  —  Forest   and 
Stream,  XIV,  Feb.  19,  p.  44- 

First  record  for  New  Jersey  (Seven  Mile  lleach).  (/.  Hull.  Nultall  t  )rnilh.  Club,  VI, 
p.  49,  1 88 1. 

1880.     RihfiWAV,  RniiKKT.     A  Catalogue  of  the  Hirds   of    North    America.  —  Troc. 
U.  S.  Nat.  Museum,  III,  pp.  178,  217. 

1880.  WooLSEV,  Gkorc.k.     The    Ipswich    Sparrow    {Passerailiis  priiufps)    at    New 

Haven,  Conn.  —  liull.  Nuttall  Ornith.  Club,  V,  p.  121. 
Cf.  Zooloj-i-scher  Jahrcsburiclu  fCr  iSSo,  IV  Abtlicilung,  p.  2JI,  1881. 

1881.  Maynard,  Chari.es  Johnson.     The  Birds  of  Kastern  North  America;  with 

original  descriptions  of  all  the  species  whicii  occur  east  of  the  Mississippi 
River,  between  the  Arctic  Circle  and  the  Crulf  of  Me.xico,  with  full  notes 
upon  their  habits,  etc.,  by  C  '  Maynard;  containing  thirty-two  plates 
drawn  on  stonf>  by  the  autln-i.  Revised  Edition.  Newtonvdle  Mass.: 
C.  J.  Maynard  cS:  Co.  1881.  4to.  pp.  101,  102  ;  pi.  III. 
A  reissue,  in  board  covers,  of  the  first  edition  of  this  work,  vi,lt  1878. 

1881.  Riw.wAY,  Rt)iiERT.     List  of  special  desiderata  among  North  American  Hirds, 

—  Proc.  U.  S.  Nat.  Museum,  IV,  p.  2 1 1. 

i88i       Scott,  William  Eari.k  Dougk.     The  Ip.swich  Sparrow  {/\isserailiis  princeps) 
at  Squam  Beach,  New  Jersey.  —  Itull.  Nuttall  Ornith.  Club,  VI,  p.  116. 
This  place  is  perhaps  better  known  as  Squan  lieach. 

i88i  Stearns,  Winfred  Alden.  New  England  Bird  Life  being  a  Manual  of  New 
England  Ornithology  revised  and  edited  from  the  manuscript  of  VVinfred  A. 
Stearns  Member  of  the  Nuttall  Ornithological  Club  etc.  by  Dr.  Elliott 
Coues  U.  S.  A.  Member  of  the  Academy  etc.  Part  I.  — Oscines  Boston 
Lee  and  Shepard  PubUshers  New  York  Charles  T.  Dillingham  1881. 
8vo.  pp.  235-238. 

The  history  of  the  Ipswich  .Sparrow,  carried  along  into  1879,  is  here  summarized. 

1882.  Brown,  Nathan  Clifford.     Remarks  on   Five  Maine  Birds.     Bull.  Nuttall 

Ornith.  Club,  VII,  p.  190. 

1882  Brown  Nathan  Clifford.  A  Catalogue  of  the  Birds  known  to  occur  in  the 
vicinity  of  Portland,  Me.,  especially  in  the  townships  of  Falmouth,  Dcer- 
ing,  VVestbrook,  Cape  Elizabeth  and  Scarborough,  briefly  annotated,  uy 
Nathan  Clifford  Brown.  Portland,  Me.:  William  M.  Marks,  Printer. 
,882.— Proc.  Portland  Soc.  Nat.  Hist,  December  4,  1882,  p.  13. 


^8  MEMr)IRS  OK  THE  NUTTAI.L  ORNMTIIOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

tllt»  Chamberlain,  Montacue.  A  Catalogue  of  the  Birds  of  New  Driinswick, 
with  brief  notes  relatiiij;  to  their  mit^ratioiis,  hrcecliiig,  relative  abundance, 
etc.-   Hull.  Nat.  Hist.  Soc.  N.  it.,  no.  i,  p.  38. 

Keference  to  the  one  bird  taken  at  I't.  Lepreaux  in  1876  liy  Mr.  William  Brewster. 

1882.  CoiJKs,  Ki.i.iorr.  The  dmcs  Check-List  of  North  American  Uirds.  Second 
Ivliliitn,  Revised  to  Date,  and  entirely  Kewritton,  under  Direction  of  the 
Author,  with  a  dictionary  of  the  Ktyinoiony,  Orlhofjraiihy,  and  Orthoepy 
of  the  Scientific  N.iines,  the  concordance  of  previous  lists,  and  a  cata- 
logue of  his  ornithological  publications.  [Monogram]  lioston  :  Estes  and 
Lauriat.  1882.  8vo.  pp.  52  and  lOo. 
The  bird  is  here  called  the  "  Ipswich  Savanna  Sparrow." 

1882.  Inokk.soi.l,  Krnest.     Birds'- Nesting:     A  Handbook  of  Instruction  in  gath- 

ering and  jircserving  the  Nests  and  Kggs  of   Birds  for  purposes  of  study. 
By    Krnest  I ngersoll.       Salem  :  Ceorge  A.  Bales.  18S2.      lamo.  p.  93. 

The    Ipswich    Sparruw  is  muntiunjd  among   those  "birds  whose  nidification  is  iin 
known." 

1883.  BKEWSTftR,  Wii.i.iAM.     Notes  on  the  Birds  observed  during  a  summer  cruise 

i:i  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.—  I'roc.  Host.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  XXII,  374. 

Regrets  expre.ssfd  that  no  opportiniity  was  afforded  for  exploring  the  sand-dunes  of 
the  Magdalen  Islands  in  the  expectation  of  flnding  the  Ipswich  Sparrow. 

1883.  CiiAMiiKKLAiN,  MoNTACiiE.  New  Brunswick  Notes. —  Bull.  Nuttall  Ornith. 
Club,  VIII,  p.  8. 

A  flock  of  abiint  twenty  Ipswich  Sparrows,  iwsociated  with  Song  Sparrows,  seen, 
April  II,  on  the  sand  flats  near  St.  John,  N.  11.  C/.  Zoologischer  Jahrcsbericht  fUr 
188 J,  IV  Abtheihing,  p.  277,  1884. 

1883.     Ciiamherlain,  Muntacuk.     Ornithological  Notes.  —  Bull.    Nat.    Hist.    Soc. 
N.  B.  no.  2,  p.  40. 
Duplicates  the  record  just  cited. 

1883.     DuTciiER,  William.     Ipswich  Sp.arrow.  —  Ornithologist  and  Oologist,  VIII, 
p.  48. 

Eight  specimens  taken  on  Great  South  Ueach,  Long  Island,  N  V.  Cf.  Auk,  II,  p.  99, 
1885. 

1883.  Griffino,  MosE^  BowniTcii.  Ipswich  Sparrows.  —  Ornithologist  and  Oolo- 
gist, VIII,  p.  22. 

Three  specimens  taken  at  Sh'.'itur  Island,  N.  V.     Cf.  Auk,  II,  p.  97,  1885. 

1883.  Jon,  Herbert  Keiohtley.  Notes  on  some  of  the  Winter  Birds  of  Massa- 
chusetts. —  Bull.  Nuttall  Ornith.  Club,  VIII,  p.  148. 

1883.     Samuels,  Edward  Augustus.     Our  Northern  and  Eastern  Birds 8vo. 

p.  581. 

Cf.  edition  of  1870,  of  which  this  is  a  retitled  reprint  with  a  supplement,  but  without 
corrections,  and  a  dozen  years  behind  the  times. 

1883.  Smith,  Everett.  The  Birds  of  Maine.  With  Annotations  of  their  Com- 
parative Abundance,  Dates  of  Migration,  Breeding  Habits,  etc.  —  P'orest 
and  Stream,  XIX,  Jan.  n,  p.  466. 

The  Ipswich  Sparrow  is  said  to  be  "  not  uncommon  along  the  coast  in  autumn,  but 
compara<ively  rarely  seen  in  spring." 


Tin:  ii'swicii  sPARR  )W.  40 

1883.  W.  A.  Winter  Birds.  —  Forest   anil    Strc;im,    XX,   March    15,    p.    It4> 

An  Ipswich  Sparrow  shut  near  Itoston,  Kcli.  i2,  1883. 

1884.  CoiJEs,   KLi.ion.     K<7    Id    North    American    ".irils.     Containing   a   concise 

account  of  every  speciL's  of  iivinj;  ami  fossil  l)ir(l  at  present  known 
from  the  Conlineiit  north  of  the  Mixican  ami  United  Slates  Ixiuiulary, 
incUisive  of  Greenland.  Second  Kdilion,  revised  to  date  and  entiiely 
rewritten:  with  which  are  incorporated  (leniral  Ornithoiony  :  .ui  out- 
line of  tiie  stnieniro  and  classifir  ition  of  liirds,  and  Fii'ld  Ornithology: 
a  Manual  of  c  dectinj;,  prepanii};  and  preserving  hirds.  Hy  KIK.itt 
Coues,  M.A.,  M.  D.,  I'h.  I).,  Member  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sci- 
ence.s.'etc,  etc.  Profusely  illustrated.  [Monogram]  lloston  :  listes  and 
l.auriat,  1884.     Large  8vo.  pp.  361,  36*. 

1884.     DuTCiiF.K,  VVii.r,iAM.      '.ird  Notes  from   Lon^   Isl.ind,  N.  Y.— Auk,  I,  p.  31. 
Kor  original  rci:()rcl  vit/f  iS.Sj,  D'llclicr. 

1884.     Lanc.ii.i.e,  J.  HiiiiiKRT.     Oiir  Itirds  in  their  Haunts:  a  iwpular  treatise  on 
the   hirds   of    Kastern    North    America.       liy    Rev.    J.    llihhert    ./anndle, 
M.A.     [Ver.se].      Moston  ;  S.  K.  Cassino  &  Company.  1884.      12 mo.  p.  199. 
Urlff  mention  of  tlie  Ipswicli  Sparrow. 

1884.     Mekria.m,    Ci-intun    Hart,     lireeding  of    Passerculus   princeps   on   Sable 
Island.  —  Auk,  I,  p.  390. 

First  record  for  Nova  Scotia;  a  specimen  of  the  hiril  ol)laiiie(l  iluriiiR  the  siimincr. 
Cf.  Zoologisclier  An/.eigcr,  VIII,  p.  229,  18.S5;  /..alogical  Kucor.i  for  1884,  p.  47,  1885; 
ZoologLscher  Jahrusberichl  fllr  1884,  IV  Aljtheilung,  p.  JiJ,  1886. 

1884.  RmowAY,  RoiiEur.     The  Probable  Breeding-place  of  Passerculus  princeps.— 

Auk,  I,  pp.  292,  293. 

Attention  is  directed  to  the  large  size  of  eggs  ''lom  Sable  Island,  N.  S.,  sui)po»ed  to 
be  of  A.  s.  savanna.  Cf.  Zoological  record  for  1884,  p.  47,  1885 ;  Smithsonian  report  for 
1884,  pt.  II,  p.  357.  1885- 

1885.  Bishop,  Louis  Bennett.     Ipswich  Sparrow.— Ornithulogist  and  (Wlogist,  X, 

p.  30. 
Two  specinieas  shot,  presumably  near  New  Haven. 

1885.     DuTCiiER,  William.      Bird  Notes  from  Long  Island,  N.  Y.— Auk,  II,  pp. 
Many  specimens  in  winter  at  Fire  Island  Inlet  and  Shlnnecock  Bay. 

1885.     DwiGHT,  Jonathan,  Jr.     The    Ipswich    Sparrow    {Passerculus  princeps)   in 
Delaware.— Auk,  II,  p.  105. 

First  record  for  Delaware.      Cf.  ZoologUcher  Jahrcsbericht  fUr  1885,  IV  Abtheilnng, 
PP-  i87>  233.  '887. 
1885.     [JENCKS,  Fred  T.]      The   Ipswich   Sparrow   in    Riiode    Island.-  -Random 
Notes  on  Nat.  Hist.  II,  p.  17. 

First  record  for  Rhode  Island.     Cf.  Auk,  III,  p.  272,  1886. 

1885.     RiDGWAV,  K       i<r.      Some  Emended  Names  of    North   American  Birds.— 
Proc.'u.  t.       It.  Mus.  VIII,  p.  354- 
The  name  Aminodramiis princeps  is  adopted. 


5° 


MEMOIRS  OF  THE  NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 


1885.     [Smithsonian  report  for  1883],  pp.  221  and  331. 

(lift  to  the  National  Museum  of  twelve  specimens  in  the  flesh  and  one  skin  of  the 
Ijjswich  Sparrow  by  Mr.  William  Uutcher. 

1885.  [Smithsonian  report  for   1884],  pt.  II,  p.  145. 

Gift  of  the  twelve  specimens  mentioned  in  previous  report,  again  recorded. 

1886.  Allen,  Joel  Asaph.     A  Revised  List  of  the  Birds  of  Massachusetts. —  Bull. 

Amer.  Mus.  Nat.  Hist.  I,  no.  7,  p.  251. 

liy  some  slip  of  the  pen  it  is  stated  that  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  "has  bi.;ii  met  wilh 
along  the  coast  from  I'rince  Edward's  Island  to  Delaware."  It  has  never  been  taken 
on  Prince  Edward  Island. 

1SS6.  Amf.rican  Crnitholooists'  Union.  The  Code  of  Nomencl.nturo  and  Check- 
List  of  North  American  Birds  Adopted  i)y  the  American  Ornithologists' 
Union  being  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Union  on  Classification 
and  Nomenclature  [Quotation]  New  York  American  Ornithologists' 
Union     1886.     8vo.  p.  265. 

AmmOilrainus  friiuefs  is  given,  with  its  habitat  "  Atlantic  coast,  from  Nova  Scotia 
south,  in  winter,  to  Virginia." 

1886.     DuTCHER,  William.     Bird  Notes  from  Long  Island. —  Auk,  III,  pp.  441,  442. 
An  account  of  A.  friiiceps,  which  is  "  relegated  to  the  commonplace  "  on  Long  Island. 

1886.     Goodale,  Joseph   Lincoln.     Wintering  of  the  White-throated  and  Ipswich 
Sparrows  in  Maine. —  Auk,  III,  p.  277. 
Two  tak.-.n,  January  23,  between  Tine  Point  and  Old  Orchard. 

1886.  Jones,  T.  [=  John]  Matthew.  Occurrence  of  the  Ipswich  Sparrow  (/i;«;/w- 
dramus prinieps)\n  Nova  Scotia. —  Auk,  III,  p.  135,  136. 

One  shot  at  Laurcncetown,  near  Halifax,  about  the  end  of  March,  1878;  first  record 
for  the  mainland.     Cf.  Zoologischer  Anzeiger,  IX,  p.  51 1,  1886.  . 

1886.  Sennett,  George  Burritt.     Ipswich  Sparrow  in  Texas. —  Auk,  III,  pp.  135, 

136. 

The  inii>robability  of  this  specimen  having  really  come  from  Texas  has  been  discussed 
in  the  foregoing  pages  (pp.  28,  29). 

1887.  Chamberlain,  Montague.     A  Catalogue  of  Canadian  Birds,  with  Notes  on  the 

Distribution   of  the  Species.     By   Montague   Chamberlain.     Saint  John, 
N.  B.     J.  cSt  A.  McMillan,  98  Prince  William  Street.  1887.     8vo.  p.  85. 

"  This  species  has  been  taken  in  New  I'runswick  and  Prince  Edw.ivd  Island  during 
the  spring  migration,  and  has  been  found  breeding  on  Sable  Lsland,  off  the  Atlantic 
coast  of  Nova  Scotia."  As  before  stated,  the  species  has  never  been  taken  on  Prince 
Edward  Island. 

1887.  K.iDGWAY,  Robert.     A  Manual  of  North  American  Birds.     By  Robert  Ridg- 

way.     Illustrated  by  464  outline  drawings  of  the  generic  characters.    Phil- 
adelphia: J.  B.  Lippincott  Company.  1887.     Large  8vo.  p.  407. 

1888.  ChAMnERLAiN,  Montague.    A  Systematic  Table  of  Canadian  Birds.    By  Mon- 

tague Chamberlain     Saint  John,  N.  B.     Published  for  the  Author.     i888. 
Ro'-al  quarto,  p.  10. 


THE   IPSWICH   SPARROW.  51 

,888  Cooke,  Wells  WooDBRiDOE.  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture.  Division  of 
Economic  Ornithology,  liullclin  No.  2.  Report  on  Dird  Migration  in  the 
Mis.sis.sipni  Valley  in  the  years  .884  and  1885,  by  W.  VV.  Cooke.  Kcliled 
and  revised  by  Dr.  C,  Hart  Meriiam.  Washington:  Government  Printing 
Office.  1888.     8vo.  p.  J 88. 

Doubt  expressed  regarding  the  bird  recorded  from  Texas  (C/.  Seiinett,  1886). 

.888  loRDAN  David  Starr.  A  Manual  of  the  Vertebrate  Animals  of  the  Northern 
United  States  including  the  district  north  and  east  of  the  Ozark  Moun- 
tains south  of  the  Laurentian  Hills,  north  of  the  .southern  boundary  of 
Virginia,  and  east  of  the  Missouri  River  inclusive  of  marine  species 
by  David  Starr  Jordan  President  of  the  University  of  Indiana  Fifth  edi- 
tion entirely  rewritten  and  much  enlarged  Chicago  A.  C.  McClurg  and 
Company.  1888.     izmo.  p.  286. 

,888  Sharpe,  Richard  Bowdler.  Catalogue  of  the  Passeriformes,  or  Perching 
Birds  in  the  Collection  of  the  British  Museum.  Fringilhformes  :  Part  HI. 
Containing  the  Family  FringiUida;.  By  R.  Bowdler  Sharpe.  London: 
Printed  by  order  of  the  Trustees.  1888.  8vo.  pp.  679,  680.— I'orming 
Vol.  XII  of  '  Catalogue  of  the  Birds  in  the  British  Museum.' 
Contains  synonymy  and  an  elaborate  description  of  tliis  species. 

1888.  ToKKEV,  BRAOFORn.  A  November  Chionicle.- Atlantic  Monthly  LXII,  Nov- 
ember, 1888,  pp.  592-594 ;  reprinted  (with  other  sketches)  in  '  A  Rambler  s 
Lease'  (18S9),  pp.  131,  132.  "33.  136,  i37- 

,880  American  Ornithologists'  Union.  Check-list  of  North  Arnerican  Birds 
According  to  the  Canons  of  Nomenclature  of  the  American  Ornithologists 
Union  Abridged  eaition  Revised  Published  by  the  American  Orni- 
thologists' Union  1889     8vo.  pamphlet,  p.  48. 

,880      Bishop    Louis  Bennett.      [Specimen  taken  ten  miles  from  the  sea,  in  Con- 
.889.     "'^«°;^^i^°"      ^,k,  VI,  p.' .99;  also  at  p.  4  of  pamphlet  repriiUed  tmder 

title 'Abstract  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Linnxan  Society  of  New  York 

City,  for  the  official  year  1888-89.' 

,880  BuowN,  NATHAN  Clifford.  Supplementary  Notes  on  Birds  of  Portland  and 
Vicinity.—  Proc.  Port.  Soc.  Nat.  Hist.,  June  14,  188'^-  P-  39- 

Published  as  a  supplement  to  a  reissue  of  the  1882  list,  the  erratum  on  p.  37  being 
carried  forward  to  p.  40. 

,880  Davie,  Oliver.  Nests  and  Eggs  of  North  American  Birds  by  Oliver  Davie. 
Third  Edition,  Revised  and  Augmented  Introduction  by  J.  Parker 
Norris.  Illustrations  by  Theodore  Jasper  A.M.,  M.D.,  and  W.  Otto  Emer- 
son    Columbus   HanncV  Adair     1889.     8vo.  p.  298. 

This  is  the  first  edition  that  contains  mention  of  A.friim-ps,  and  later  ones,  to  date, 
are  mere  reissues  of  this. 

.880      rSMiTHSONiAN  report  for  1886.]    Part  II,  p.  740. 

Among  list  of  donations  to  the  National  Museum  are  thirty  specimens  of  A.  frimifs 
from  Mr.   C.  W.  Chamberlain,  lioston,  Mass. 


53  MEMOIRS  OF  THE  NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

1889.     T  [hompson],  E[rnest]  E.     Birds  of  Nova  Scotia. —  Auk,  VI,  p.  64. 

A  ruview  of  Mr.  Andrew  Downs's  list  of  birds  of  Nova  .Scoti.i,  justly  criticising  him 
for  omitting  the  Ipswich  .Sparrow,  "  probably  without  exception  the  most  peculiar  and 
characteristic  of  the  whole  Acadian  avifauna." 

1889.  Tdrrey,  Bradford.  A  Rambler's  Lease  By  Bradford  Torrey  [Two  quota- 
tions and  colophon]  Boston  and  New  York  Houghton,  Mifflin  and  Com- 
pany The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge  1889.  i6mo.  pp.  131,  132,  133, 
136.  •37- 

1889.  ToRREV,  Bradford.     December  Out  of  Doors. —  Atlantic  Monthly,  LXIV, 

December,  1889,  p.  757;  reprinted  (with  other  sketches)    in  'The  Foot- 
path Way,"  1892,  pp.  53,  54. 

1890.  DuTCHF.R,  William.       A  Winter   Trip   to    Montauk. —  Forest   and    Stream, 

XXXIV,  April  3,  p.  206. 

Several  specimens  seen  on  Amagansett  Ileach  and  at  Montauk  Point,  I.ong  Island, 
N.  V. 

1890.  Maynard,  Charles  Johnson.  Eggs  of  North  American  Birds  by  Chas.  J. 
Maynard.  Illustrated  with  ten  hand-colored  plates.  Boston :  DeWolfe, 
Fiske  &  Co.    1890.      8vo.  p.  104. 

"Authenticated  eggs  are  unknown,  but  it  is  supposed  to  breed  on  Sable  Island,  (lulf  of 
St.  Lawrence."     The  geography  of  this  statement  is  a  good  de-il  at  fault. 

1890.  Nelson,  Julius.  Geological  Survey  of  New  Jersey.  Final  Report  of  the 
State  Geologist.  Vol.  II.  Mineralogy,  Botany,  Zoology.  Trenton,  N.  J. 
Printed  by  the  John  L.  Murphy  Publishing  Company,  1890. —  Descrip- 
tive Catalogue  of  the  Vertebrates  of  New  Jersey.  (A  revision  of  Dr. 
Abbott's  Catalogue  of  1S68.)  Prepared  by  Julius  Nel-son,  Ph.D.  8vo. 
p.  54»- 

1890.     RivEs,  William  Cabell,  Jr.     A  Catalogue  of  the  Birds  of  the  Virginias. — 
Proc.  Newport  Nat.  Hist.  Soc,  Document  VMI,  1889  90,  p.  73. 
First  record  for  Virginl.i, —  "  common  in  winter  M  Cobb's  Island." 

1890.     [Smithsonian  report  for  1888],  pp.  146,  744. 

l''onrteen  specimens  of  Aiii»ioifr,iHiiis f'rincf/is obtained  by  esihange from  C.  W.  Cham- 
berlain, l!ost<m,  Mass. 

1890.  WiiRiiiiNr.TON,  Wilms  WiiDni'oun.     The  Ipswich  Sparrow  in  Georgia. —  Auk, 

VII,  pp.  211,  212. 

Kirst  record  for  (ieorgia.  Cf.  Abstr.  Proc.  I.inn.  Soc.  N.  Y.,  p.  9,  iSgo  (repetition  in 
part  of  original  record)  ;  Zoologisclier  .\n/.eigcr,  .XllI,  p.  673,  1S90;  liiewster,  Auk,  .X, 
p.  302,  I.Sc)3  (duplicaliou  of  Mr.  Wortliington's  record);  Hrewster,  Auk,  .X,  ]>.  365,  1893 
(explanation  of  the  double  record) ;  Zoologischer  Anzciger,  XVI,  p.  539,  189). 

1891.  BoLi.Es,  Frank.     The  Fcpiinoctial  on  the  Ipswich  Dimes.  —  Adantic  Monthly, 

LXVIII,  October,  pp.  524-,i;25  ;  reprinted  with  other  sketches  in  'Land  of 
the  Lingering  Snow'  (1891),  pp.  67,  68. 

1891.  BoLLEs,  Frank.  Land  of  the  Lingering  Snow  Chronicles  of  a  Stroller  in 
New  l'",ngland  from  January  to  June  By  Frank  Holies  [colophon] 
Boston  and  New  York  Houghton,  Mifflin  and  Company  The  Riverside 
Press,  Cambridge     1891       i6mo.  pp.  67,  68,  88. 


THE   IPSWICH    SI'ARROW.  53 

1801  Chamberlain,  Montague.  A  Popular  Handbook  of  the  Ornithology  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  liased  on  Nuttairs  Manual,  liy  Montague 
Chamberlain.  [Vignette]  Vol.  I.  The  Land  liirds.  Uoston :  Little, 
Drown,  and  Company.  1891.     8vo.  p.  326. 

i8qi  Chamderlain,  Montague.  A  Popular  Handbook  of  the  Ornithology  of 
Eastern  North  America.  By  Thomas  Nuttall.  Revised  and  Annotated 
by  Montague  Chamberlain.  [Vignette]  Vol.  L  The  Land  Birds,  iioston  ; 
Little,  Brown,  and  Company.   1891. 

The  original  two  volumes  are  here  ijouiul  together  In  one,  the  preface  is  rewritten,  and 
the  work  retitled. 

1801.  Walter,  Herbert  Eugene.  The  Birds  of  Androscoggin  County.  By  Herbert 
E.  Walter.  Notes  on  the  Perching  Birds  of  Androscoggin  County,  supple- 
mented by  a  Catalogue  of  Other  Species,  excluding  the  shore  and  water 
birds,  also  identified  in  the  county.  8vo.  pamphlet,  reprinted  from  '  His- 
tory of   Androscoggin  County,'  p.  25. 

Among  the  species  found  elsewhere  in  Maine,  but  iwt  in  Androscoggin  County. 

k8o2.  Averill,  Charles  Kkicuum.  List  of  Birds  found  in  the  vicinity  of  Bridge- 
port, Connecticut.  Prepared  for  the  Bridgeport  Scienlilic  Society  by 
C.  K.  Averill,  Jr.  January,  1892,  Bridgeiwrt,  Conn.:  Buckingham  & 
Brewer,  Printers.   1892.      i2mo.  pamph.  p.  14. 

1892  Laurent,  Philip.  Birds  of  Five  Mile  Be.xch  [New  Jersey].— Ornithologist 
and  Oologist,  XVII,  p.  88. 

1892.  Stone,  Witmer.     Winter  Birds  of  Cape  May,  New  Jersey.  —  Auk,  IX,  pp.  203, 

ap4.    -  .   ■       _, 

189'  Torrev,  IJRADFoun.  The  Foot-path  Way  By  Bradford  Torrey  [Verse  and 
colophon]  Boston  and  New  York  Houghton,  Mifllin  and  Conip.iny 
The  Riverside  Press,    Cambridge     1892      i6mo.  pp.  53,  54. 

1893.  Allen,  Joel  Asaph.     The  Ccographical  origin   and   distribution   of   North 

American    Birds   considered    in    relation    to    I-aunal    Areas    of    North 
America.^  Auk,  X,  p.  126. 

A.  princeps\%  included  among  the  species  belonging   "distinctively"  to  the  "Cold 
Temperate  Subregion." 

1893  Apgar,  Austin  Craig.  Pocket  Key  of  the  Birds  of  the  Northern  IFnited 
States,  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  By  Austin  C.  Apgar,  Author  of 
'Trees  of  the  Northern  United  States,'  '  Mollusks  of  the  Atlantic  Coast,' 
&c.  Trenton,  N.  J.  The  John  L.  Murphy  Pub.  Co.,  Printers.  1893. 
181110.  p.  28. 

1893.  Brewster,  William.  The  Ipswich  Sparrow  {Ammoilntmiis  princeps)  on  the 
coast   of    Georgia. —  Auk,  X,  p.  302. 

Duplication  of  previous  record.     Cf.  1890,  Worthington,  //.  v. ;  Zoologischer  Anzeiger, 
XVI,  p.  539,  1894. 

1893.     Brewster,  Wi'.liam.     Two  Corrections.—  Auk,  X,  p.  365. 

In  part  explanatory  of  the  double  record  for  (jeorgia,  vide  i8yo,  Wortliington. 


54       MEMOIRS  OF  THE  NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 

1894.  Chapman,  Frank  Michler.  Visitors'  Guide  to  the  Local  Collection  of  Birds 
in  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  New  York  City.  With  an 
annotated  list  of  the  birds  known  to  occur  within  fifty  miles  of  New 
York  City.  By  Frank  M.  Chapman,  Assistant  Curator  Department  of 
Mammalogy  and  Ornithology  New  York;  Printed  for  the  Museum 
1894.     8vo.  pamph.  p.  59. 

1894.  Stone,  Witmer.    The  Birds  of  Eastern  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  with 

introductory  chapters  on  Geographical  Distribution  and  Migration  pre- 
pared under  the  direction  of  the  Delaware  Valley  Ornithological  Club  by 
Witmer  Stone  Conservator  Ornithological  Section  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences  of  Philadelphia  Philadelphia  Delaware  Valley  Ornithological 
(;iub  1894     8vo.  pp.  14,  112,  113. 

"  Winter  resident  along  the  sand-hills  of  the  New  Jersey  coast,  not  abundant  though 
probably  regular." 

1895.  Chapman,  Frank  Michler.     Handbook  of  Birds  of  Eastern  North  America 

with  Keys  to  the  Species  and  Descriptions  «_'  their  Plumages,  Nests,  and 
Eggs  their  Distribution  and  Migrations  and  a  brief  account  of  their  Haunts 
and  Habits  with  introductory  chapters  on  the  study  of  Ornithology,  how 
to  identify  Birds  and  how  to  collect  and  preserve  Birds  their  Nests  and 
Eggs  By  Frank  M.  Chapman  Assistant  Curator  of  the  Department  of 
Mammalogy  and  Ornithology  in  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History, 
New  York  City;  Member  of  the  American  Ornithologists'  Union,  etc. 
With  full-page  plates  in  colors  and  black  and  white  and  upwards  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  cuts  in  the  text  New  York  D.  Appleton  and  Company 
189s     i2mo.  pp.  291-292. 

1895.  MiNOT,  Henry  Davis.  [Edited  by  William  Brewster.]  The  Land-Birds  and 
Game-Birds  of  New  England  with  descriptions  of  the  Birds,  their  nests 
and  eggs,  their  habits  and  notes  with  illustrations  By  H.  D.  Minot 
Second  edition  Edited  by  William  Brewster  [Quotation  and  vignette] 
Boston  and  New  York  Houghton,  Mifflin  and  Company  The  Riverside 
Press,  Cambridge     1895.     8vo.  pp.  201-204. 

Cf.  original  edition  1^77.    This  second  edition  contains  valuable  annotations  l)y  tlie 
editor. 

1895.  Wright,  Mabel  Osgood.  Birdcraft.  A  Field  Book  of  two  hundred  Song 
Game  and  Water  Birds  by  Mabel  Osgood  Wright  Author  of  "The 
Friendship  of  Nature  "  With  full-page  plates  containing  128  Birds  in  the 
Natural  Colors,  and  other  illustrations  New  York  Macmillan  and  Co. 
and  London  1895  All  rights  reserved  Sm.  8vo.  p.  146. 
Unimportant  mention  in  a  popular  work. 


INDEX. 


AcTiTls  macularia,  i6,  19. 

yiigialitis   meloda    circuniciucta,  16,  17. 

semipalniata,  16,  17. 
Agroslis  alba  vulgaris,  12. 

Ammodramus  princeps,   3,    15,    16,    19-2I1    24, 
27-31.  ,    -    - 

description  of,  21,  25. 
distribution,  31. 
eggs.  3 '.37.  39.  ■to.  4'- 
food,  41. 
habitat,  21. 
habits,  33. 
history,  24. 

measurements,  23,  2O.  * 

migration,  31. 
moult,  33. 

nests,  34,  37.  38.  40,  4' • 
plumage,  21,  25. 
song,  35. 
sy.ionyniy,  20. 
Ammodramus  s.  alaudinus,  23,  29. 

s.  savanna,  23,  28,  30.  31,  34.  35>  3".  39- 
Ammophiia  arenaria,  9,  12,  33,  37,  40,  4'' 
AuLts  ol)Scura,  16,  19. 
Arenaria  groenlandica,  14. 

peploides,  14. 
Ascophyllum  nodosum,  14. 

Kayberry,  13. 

ISeach-grass,  9,    12,  33,  37.   40.4'- 

liird.  Gray,  3,  31,  32,  37. 

liirds  of  Sable  Island,  16. 

Blueberry,  13,  41. 

Uunchberry,  13. 

Bunting,  Snow,  26. 

Calcarius  lapponicus,  26. 
Carex,  12,  39,  40. 
Cat,  15. 
Cattle,  5,  6,  15. 

Centronyx  bairdii,  3.  20,  24-27,  30. 
Chaeturapelagica,  19. 
Charadrius  torticollis,  17. 
Climate  of  Sable  Island,  11. 
Clover,  Red,  12. 

White,  12. 
Cornus  canadensis,  13,  42. 
Cranberry,  13. 
Crowberry,  9,  12,  34,  38,  40. 

Ducks,  15,  19.  '"■:'. 

Black,  19. 


KKl.-grass,  13,  40. 

Kmpetrum  nigrun\,  9,  1 2,  34,  38,  40. 
Kmpidonax  llaviventris,  19. 
Everlasting,  13,  4°- 

Finch,  Western  CIrass,  29. 
Klora  of  Sable  Island,  12. 
Fox,  6,  1 5. 

Fragaria  canadensis,  13. 
Fringilla,  24. 

Gnaphai.him,  13. 
Grass,  Red-top,  12. 
Gull,  Great  lUatk-backed,  19. 

Herring,  19. 

Kittiwake,  19. 

IlYLA  pickeringii,  36. 

Irsw:cii  sand-hills,  26. 

Jakgf.rs,  19. 
Junco  hyemalis,  19. 
Juncoides  campestre,  12. 
J  uncus  balticus  littoralis,  12. 
Jumper,  9,  12,  34,  38. 
Juniperus  nana,  9,  12,  34,  38. 

Larus  argentatus  smithsonianus,  19. 

marinus,  19. 
Lathyrus  maritimus,  13. 
Lettuce,  Sea,  13. 
Lichens,  13,  38. 
Longspur,  Lapland,  26. 

Mammals  of  Sable  Island,  14. 
Meadow-rue,  13. 
Merganser,  Red-breasted,  19. 
Merganser  serrator,  16,  19. 
Mitchella  repens,  13. 
MoUusca,  14. 
Mosses,  13,  39.  40.  4'- 
Myrica  cerifera,  1 3,  42. 

Nyctea  nyctea,  1 5. 

OcEANODROMAleucorhoa,  ig. 
Odobxnus  rosmarus,  14. 
Owl,  Snowy,  15. 

r^NICU.M,  12. 

I'artridgeberry,  13. 


56 


M 


EMOIRS  OK  TIIK   NUTTALL  ORNITHOLOGICAL  CLUB. 


I'asBerculua  niaynardi,  21. 

princeps,  20,  27,29,  30,  31. 

savanna,  25,  31. 
I'ea,  IJeach,  13. 
Petrels,  19. 
I'hltuni  pratenKe,  12- 
riioca  Kra'ilandica,  1  5. 

vitnllina,  14. 
ricctropheniix  nivalis,  26. 
IMover,  liuUeil  Tiping,  17. 

Seinipalmated,  lO,  17. 
I'onies,  4,  6,  1 5. 
I'oocxtes  gramineus,  25. 

gramineus  confinis,  29. 
I'otatofs,  14. 

Kaiiiht,  15. 

Kat,  15.  • 

Kingneck,  17. 

lilack,  17. 

White,  17,  18. 
Kissa  tridactyla,  19. 
Kockweed,  14. 
Kosa  nitida,  1 3. 
Rose-bushes,  13,  4°.  4'- 
Runiex  acelosella,  13,  42- 
Rushes,  12. 

Sable  Island,  birds,  16. 

charts,  5,  7- 

climate.  1 1  •  ,  » 

flora,  12. 

history,  5. 

lake,  8,  10. 

lighthouses,  4,  8,  ' " 

mammals,  14. 

physical  aspect,  9. 

size,  7,  9. 

stations,  4,  7- 

storms,  10,  12. 

wrecks,  5,  6,  7. 
Sandpiper,  Least,  16,  17,  18. 

Spotted,  16,  19. 
Sandwort,  14. 
SchoUera  macrocarpa,  13. 


Seals,  6,  14. 

Harbor,  14. 
Harp,  15. 
Sedges,  12,  39.4°.  4'- 
Sheep,  15. 
Shore-birds,  19. 
Sorrel,  13,  4'- 
Sparrow,  liaird's,  3,  24,  25-27,  30. 

Ipswich,  see  Aminoilramtis  prtnceps 
■    Savanna,  28.  31,  34.  35- 3*'' 39- 
Western  Savanna,  29. 
Sphagnum,  13. 
Slercorarius  parasiticus,  19. 
Sterna  dougalli,  16. 
hirundo,  16. 
paradis;ca,    16. 
Strawberry,  13. 
Swine,  5,  I5- 

Temperaturk,  II,  12. 
Tern,  Arctic,  16. 

Common,  16. 

Portland,  16. 

Roseate,  16. 
Terns,  14,  15,  16.  ,    • 

Kggs,  16,  17- 
Thalictrum,  13. 
Timothy,  12. 
Trifolium  pralense,  12- 

repens,  12. 
Tringa  minula,  17. 

minutilla,  16,  17,  18. 

Ui.VA,  13. 

Vaccinium  pennsylvanicum,  13. 
Viola  obliqua,  13. 

lanceolata,  13. 
Violet.s,  13.  , 

Walrus,  6,  i4' 
Willow,  13. 

ZONOTRICIIIA  princeps,  21. 
Zostera  marina,  13. 


•'.*<:" 


^i. 


